Long Beach, Calif. — Mar. 16, 2007 — Smart developers and homebuilders will transition to building more starter homes, multi-family housing and apartments if they want to thrive in the coming decades, according to two nationally prominent figures who spoke this week at Homex 2007 Homebuilder Summit & Expo.

“The Roaring 2000’s are over for the housing market because Baby Boomers have passed their peak spending years,” economic forecaster and best-selling author Harry Dent said. As this boom ends, he predicts at least a decade of deflation with lower real estate prices and mortgage rates as low as 4 percent. By 2011 the next wave of Echo Boomers will come to the market ready to buy their first home, he said.

“As the economy slows, the best place to be is in starter homes or multi-family,” Dent said. “Homebuilders need to be more liquid, not over-exposed, so they can take advantage of falling land  prices and pounce on the deals.”

This was the inaugural event for homex national homebuilding conference produced by Homebuilder Events, Inc. and Peninsula Publishing of Newport Beach, Calif. The three-day event drew industry leaders, real estate experts and premier exhibitors from across the country to the Long Beach Convention Center.

“Southern California should have a major building show of its own like Homex,” said former U.S. HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, another keynote speaker. “It serves a business purpose, but also a social purpose. I came here to encourage production of homes for working families and the opportunity to deliver my message to this many homebuilders is simply unparalleled.”

Cisneros also predicts the demand for housing will shift toward smaller, more affordable properties because the new generation of Americans is so culturally and economically diverse.

Peninsula Publishing sponsored a dinner auction that raised more than $75,000 for Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s groundbreaking efforts to affordably house the nation’s combat-disabled veterans and their families.

Joseph S. Tavarez, who was recently promoted to President of the National Homebuilder Services of First American Title Insurance, said his company became the primary sponsor of Homex 2007 because he was impressed with the depth of the program and the quality of the speakers.

“We saw it as a positive alternative to what is now being offered in the marketplace,” Tavarez said. “Homex is taking a fresh, energetic approach to issues facing the real estate industry, which is something we have needed in Southern California for a long time. It’s been good for our business and the industry as a whole… I can’t wait until next year.”