Annual Housing & Construction Forecast

Description

2026 Annual Housing & Construction Forecast The 2026 Annual Housing and Construction Forecast, presented in partnership with the Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association and the Cape Fear REALTORS®, will feature national experts Fan-Yu Kuo (NAHB) and Lawrence Yun (NAR) as well as local expert Mouhcine Guettabi (UNCW) to address what we can expect to see in the industry in 2026. This year's forecast will be at the Terraces on Sir Tyler. Registration includes breakfast and a physical copy of this year's Cape Fear Area Housing Economic Climate Report. 

This event is open to WCFHBA and CFR membership only. 

Capacity is limited! This event has sold out quickly in the past, so don't delay getting your tickets! A waitlist will be enacted when capacity is reached.

Meet Our Speakers:

Fan-Yu Kuo, Senior Economist, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)

Fan-Yu Kuo is a senior economist at NAHB where she conducts economic research related to macroeconomics and forecasting. She also assists in economic and housing data updates. Prior to joining NAHB, Kuo was a research assistant at the Academia Sinica. She holds a master’s in international economics and finance from Johns Hopkins University, as well as a master’s in international political economy from King’s College London.

Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist, National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) 

Lawrence Yun is Chief Economist and oversees the Research group at the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. He supervises and is responsible for a wide range of research activities for the association, including NAR's Existing Home Sales statistics, Affordability Index, and Home Buyers and Sellers Profile Report. He regularly provides commentary on real estate market trends. Dr. Yun creates NAR's forecasts and participates in many economic forecasting panels, among them the Blue Chip Council and the Wall Street Journal Forecasting Survey. He also participates in the Industrial Economists Discussion Group at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. He appears regularly on financial news outlets, is a frequent speaker at real estate conferences throughout the United States, and has testified before Congress. Dr. Yun has also appeared as a guest on CSPAN's Washington Journal. In 2025, the Wall Street Journal congratulated him for having one of the closest forecasts for 2024. Dr. Yun received his undergraduate degree from Purdue University and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Mouhcine Guettabi, Associate Professor of Economics, University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW)

Dr. Mouhcine Guettabi joins the University of North Carolina Wilmington from the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) where he was an associate professor of economics. He earned his PhD in economics with an emphasis on Urban and Regional Economics from Oklahoma State University in 2012. He is an applied microeconomist with two main streams of research: the effect of natural resources on households and communities, and the socioeconomic effects of unconditional cash transfers. His recently published research can be found in some of the leading economic journals such as the Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and the Journal of Regional Science. In addition to his academic work, during his time at UAA, he regularly produced economic forecasts, analyzed the state’s finances, conducted analysis on key policy issues, and testified in front of the legislature.