4 takeaways from VCU’s Real Estate Trends Conference
Financing, housing supply, productivity and talent topped the agenda at the Oct. 9 gathering.
By Megan Nash
In an arena built for buzzer beaters, the scoreboard at the Henrico Sports & Events Center reset to a different clock.
On Oct. 9, VCU’s Kornblau Real Estate Program hosted its Real Estate Trends Conference, offering a clear-eyed look at the next few quarters in Central Virginia real estate. Over a day of keynotes and conversations, economist Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D.; Renee Haltom, vice president and regional executive at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond; and Nikki Greenberg, a futurist and former head of technology strategy for real estate at investment firm QIC, compared notes before an audience of professionals and students.
Here are the takeaways:
Rate cuts may come — mortgage relief isn’t automatic
Eisenberg drew a line between the Fed’s short-term policy rate and the longer yields that set 30-year mortgages and much construction debt. If investors read cuts as the Fed going soft on inflation, long rates can rise anyway.
“There’s never a free lunch,” he said. “If investors are fearful that the Fed’s giving up on controlling inflation… then the long end of the yield curve goes up, and the 10-year Treasury gets more expensive, 30-year mortgages get more expensive.”
Housing’s near-term math still tilts to multifamily
With single-family affordability strained and condo pipelines thin, Eisenberg said the opportunity in many markets still points to rentals. One data point stood out: “We’re in a weird situation right now where new homes are cheaper than existing homes. We’ve never seen this before… the golden handcuffs of 3% mortgages,” he said.
To get real productivity gains, build an “AI factory,” then automate bottlenecks
Greenberg’s prescription starts with plumbing rather than promises: collapse data silos into a shared platform that feeds role-specific apps, then target automation — drones, bricklaying and tile-installation robots — where it reduces rework and idle time.
“What we want to do is move to what’s called an AI factory… data… goes into the data platform… then it’s pushed down to subscribers… so everyone can have an interface that plugs into the same information,” she said.
She framed the upside around job-site waste: 91.5% of projects run over budget or schedule, 35% of a trade’s time is nonproductive and roughly 30% of materials become waste — a savings opportunity measured in the trillions, she said.
For new grads: practice problem-solving, translation and restraint with AI
The economy may be “up,” but hiring for first-time job seekers is slower, Haltom said, and the scars of entering a soft market can last. “New graduates are not finding it as easy as others,” she said. “Historically, if you exit college in a weaker labor market, that can stick with you over time.”
Employers, she added, want people who can interpret data and communicate across domains. “Problem solving is a big one. Communication is a big one… the ability to take big-data results and turn them into something actionable,” she said.
On AI tools, she cautioned: “There’s really good evidencethat [heavy AI use] atrophies your brain if you overuse it… Make sure if you’re using AI, you’re also investing in the ability to do the hard-thinking work… and the fact-checking.”
After Haltom’s reminder that tools don’t replace judgement, the day’s theme landed where most work does: people and execution.
“The future’s being built today, and it’s passionate people that make it happen,” Greenberg said.
For updates on the 2026 VCU Real Estate Trends Conference, set for Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Henrico Sports and Events Center, visit the VCU Kornblau Real Estate Program website.
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