Facing the Housing Conundrum in San Diego County

From left: Goodson, Hayes, Pauker, Sullivan and BMC executive director Stath Karras.

SAN DIEGO—Everyone agrees that there is a housing crisis in the San Diego market and that more residences are desperately needed, but the obstacles to providing them are seemingly insurmountable, said speakers at the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego School of Business’s annual residential real estate conference Thursday. The conference featured a keynote address by Tim Sullivan, managing principal of Meyers Research, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Sullivan, which included Accretive Investments CEO Randy Goodson, Fairfield Residential VP Brendan Hayes and Brookfield Residential’s senior director of land and housing Tony Pauker.

Sullivan’s address, “The Business of Housing: Massive Changes, Major Challenges (and Some Bright Spots),” discussed several real estate disruptors, the new political regime and the impact these factors are likely to have on San Diego’s residential real estate market. The main disruptors he mentioned were Uber, which affects parking issues; 3D printing, which he believes will progress rapidly once the younger generation takes over the industry; and the consumer experience, from clicks-to-bricks retailers and new restaurant concepts such as Fox Restaurant Concepts—which features local food flavors from food trucks to fancy sit-down restaurants—to Amazon Go, which eliminates the checkout line. All of these disruptors have to potential to dramatically change residential real estate.