Home Inventory Shrinks

Michael Timmerman has been making prescient calls on the residential real estate market in Southwest Florida for 17 years.

As senior associate in the Naples office of economic consulting firm Fishkind & Associates, Timmerman accurately forecast the real estate downturn in late 2006. For example, he warned shopping-center developers early that speculative new homes built during the boom didn't necessarily translate to new residents. Now they're asking his firm to develop economic models to measure population growth and retail demand.

At an Urban Land Institute of Southwest Florida presentation recently, Timmerman said the housing market could be on track to deliver 5% to 6% annual price increases if current demand continues.