All Things Tech at Inman Real Estate Connect

By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

The mood in the Grand Ballroom of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, the site of the 2009 Inman News Real Estate Connect (August 5-7) conference, was remarkably upbeat. With this week’s encouraging news about the housing and job markets, the atmosphere was palpably different from just six months ago at RE Connect in New York. At 1,800, attendance was notably up from last year’s conference, and most sessions were standing-room-only.

Presenters seem to concur that signs point to a slow recovery, but recovery or not, the industry still needs to adapt to a different environment. Sherry Chris, president & CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC, argued that the average office space will need to decrease from 124 sq. feet per practitioner to 49 sq. feet and that newer associates will demand more technology. Read more