The UCA Finance and Investment Club and the UCA Department of Economics, Finance, Insurance and Risk Management are hosting a panel discussion focusing on the real estate market and how it has changed since 2007.
“After the Crash: Real Estate Market Reform and Recovery” will be held Thursday, April 19 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the College of Business Auditorium. The program will take an in depth look at the residential real estate market. The forum is free and open to the public.
“The real estate market is one area where the economy still has an uphill battle ahead. We are starting to see recovery in many other areas such as unemployment and consumer spending, but many foreclosures are still being processed through the system,” said Tammy M. Rogers, interim department chair and associate professor of finance.
“Banks are having to try and sell foreclosed properties to get them off of their books. Many individuals are so far ‘underwater’ that they can’t afford to sell their house and move where there are better economic opportunities,” she continued. “These issues along with many of the Consumer Protection reforms have changed the way that people view their house, their mortgage, and the real estate market in general.”
The panel members are going to address these issues from the perspective of the individual looking at purchasing a home as well as the bank that makes a loan and then sells it in the secondary market, Rogers said.
“We have an excellent panel who are making the expertise available to our local community,” she added.
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This year’s panel members are:
• Mark A. Calabria, the director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute. He spent six years as a member of the senior professional staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. He handled issues relating to housing, mortgage finance, economics, banking and insurance for Ranking Member, Richard Shelby.
• John W. “Johnny” Adams, the president and CEO of the Conway Market for First Security Bank since 2000. Before 2000, Adams served as president of Regions Bank of Conway and the manager of real estate and mortgage lending for the bank’s predecessor, First National Bank of Conway, for 15 years.
• Robert “Bunny” Adcock, Jr., vice chairman and member of the Board of Directors for Home BancShares Inc. and Centennial Bank of Conway. Adcock has worked for several state government offices over the years to include positions such as interim vice president of finance for UCA, bank commissioner for the Arkansas State Bank Department and president of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority.
• Gene Holman, president of the mortgage division of Bank of the Ozarks, a subsidiary company of Bank of the Ozarks Inc., since 2004. Prior to 2004, Holman served as president and chief operating officer of a competitor mortgage company and held various senior management positions with that company during his 21 year tenure.
• Greg Hunt, president and principal broker of Sandstone Real Estate Group, which is a full service real estate firm in Conway, since 2008. Prior to 2008, Hunt worked as an associate broker with a competitor real estate company and for a Dallas based commercial real estate firm as a federal land acquisition manager.
