No recession on the horizon, says financial adviser: Experts weigh in at LVB real estate symposium

Are we headed towards an economic recession in 2020? Keith P. Aleardi, CIO of Fulton Financial Advisors and president and CIO of Clermont Wealth Strategies, doesn’t think so.

Aleardi addressed a crowd of real estate professionals on Nov. 15 at the annual Berks County Real Estate & Development Symposium 2019, held by Lehigh Valley Business at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Reading. He asserted that while a majority of media pundits say a recession is on the horizon, he is not discouraged by the current economic outlook.

“It’s hard to dip into a recession with such a low unemployment rate,” he said. “70 percent of the economy is based on the consumer, and when consumers are employed, it’s hard to fall.”The economic outlook influences home buying, and right now, residential home sales are up 1.5 percent from last year, said Dave Mattes, realtor with The Dave Mattes Team at RE/MAX of Reading, who also spoke at the symposium.

The average number of days it takes a home to sell in Berks County is also down, he said, from 52 days in 2018 to 47 today. The average sales prices of homes continue to go up, with an increase of 4 percent from last year, for an average sales price of $189,733 this year.

“It’s a seller’s market in Berks,” Mattes said.

As for commercial real estate, inventory is at a 15-year low, according to Steve Willems, managing principal with NAI Keystone.

“All industrial parks are at full or above 95 percent occupancy,” he said.

Willems mentioned that medical acquisition and consolidation are driving much of the commercial real estate traffic in the Berks area right now.

However, there is not much activity in commercial real estate in rural areas, he said.

Also at the symposium, the importance of “placemaking” or the acts involved in making a neighborhood a place that promotes health, happiness and well-being was discussed.

Alan Shuman, president of the Reading-based Shuman Development Group, told the crowd that “getting rid of projects that have no interaction with pedestrians,” should be a priority for developers and government today.

Shuman described a desire for more buildings with street level restaurants, shops, and green spaces, in order to make the buildings a “working part of the city” with “impactful investment.”

Anthony Orozco, an independent journalist, also spoke of the importance of placemaking. He told the audience of the various ways the community development association, Barrio Alegria, works to transform neighborhoods in Reading through the arts by coordinating free outdoor art experiences, workshops, dance exhibitions and more throughout the city.

Orozco said that these free events show all community members, regardless of color, gender or income that they are important and they are being considered.