Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Open Board of Directors Meeting
San Bernardino Community College District
114 S. Del Rosa Drive
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Minutes
Present: Deborah Barmack, Peter Barmack, Carole Beswick, Tom Brickley, Ann Bryan, Mike Burrows, Ken Coate, Jacob Coin, Kevin Dyerly, Ashley Gaines, Louis Goodwin, Scott Hofferber, Mark Kaenel, Bill Lemann, Dan Murphy, Cid Pinedo, John Prentice, Brian Reider, and Paul Shimoff.
Guests: Frank Basirico
Announcements: 1) The San Bernardino International Airport will hold the SBD Airfest on Saturday, September 10, 2016. Last year over 10,000 people attended the event. For more information got to http://www.sbdfest.com/ 2) IEEP is has announced open registration for their 4th annual Regional Leadership Academy. The academy consists of one day sessions every month from September through June of 2017. For more information please go to http://ieep.com/regional-leadership-academy/ 3) A majority of the members present voted to extend an invitation of membership to Real Journey Academies. 4) Proposed members: HNTB Corporation has been proposed for membership. Khalil Saba, V.P. Inland Empire Area Mgr will serve as the representative. For more information about HNTB please go to http://www.hntb.com/about. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has been proposed for membership. Patti Arlt, Sr. Government & Regional Affairs Rep., Inland Empire will serve as the representative. To learn more about them please use the link provided http://www.mwdh2o.com/
M/S/P: Minutes from July 19, 2016.
Ann Bryan introduced Mark Dowling, CEO, Inland Valleys Association of Realtors (IVAR).
In addition to Mark Dowling’s extensive experience in real estate he served as the Administrator of the San Bernardino County Economic Development Agency (EDA). Additionally he served 6 years on the County of San Bernardino Planning Commission and was a partner in a full service real estate development company focused on infill housing.
The non-profit IVAR provides advocacy, education, and data to their membership of approximately 4,000. Their members consist of realtors, lenders and other professional affiliates interested in the real estate industry. Their many statistics are updated monthly on their web site.
Since the crash in 2007-09 the market has moved forward and is now considered stable. In the past 3-4 years the real estate market has come back in all categories such as median sales price, new listings, sold listings and days on the market.
Reports indicate that some 80% of all age groups still believe that home ownership makes financial sense but attitudes have changed. Rather than home purchase, an increasing amount of people choose to first establish careers, they marry later in life and many are repaying student loan debt that is often equal to a mortgage payment. Total student debt has nearly tripled in the last ten years and totals well over $1.08 trillion. Some buyers indicated that they did not purchase sooner because they felt no urgency with long term stability in interest rates. Equally important were their concerns of another housing crash. Home buyers are ten years older on average than in the past. The average age for buyers in 2014 and 2015 was mid-forties vs. the average from 2002-2013 was mid-thirties. Riverside and San Bernardino counties are still, and will remain, affordable. The high desert market is very active.
California is falling way behind in home ownership (54.9%) compared to the national average (64%). Home prices are rising faster than income levels here. Economists speculate that soon the majority in California will be renters and not home owners. Building remains flat and, although there is demand, there is a pervasive attitude against building. Perceived as a negative for communities, even building infill housing is volatile.
A Q & A period followed.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 a.m.