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HARRISBURG, Pa., March 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency's Housing Forum planned for May includes four keynote speakers, 26 educational sessions, a bus tour of an innovative local housing development, and plenty of networking opportunities.

Housing professionals may register now for the May 8-9 conference to be held at the Hilton Harrisburg. PHFA has been leading the Housing Forum biyearly since 1997. 

"This year's conference introduces some new features while retaining many of the past elements our attendees told us they appreciate," said PHFA Executive Director and CEO Brian A. Hudson Sr. "Plus, we're keeping the registration fee at the same price it's been for the past decade – just $125 for early bird registrants. It's hard to beat the value we deliver during this conference."

The Housing Forum provides an opportunity for people working in the housing field to attend focused educational sessions and interact with their peers. More than 650 people are expected to attend, including developers, lenders, housing managers, housing advocates, and state and local government officials. 

One keynote speaker will be Dr. Mark Zandi, internationally known economist based in Pennsylvania. Dr. Zandi, with Moody's Analytics, will review recent economic trends and provide a forecast for the housing economy in Pennsylvania.

A second keynote speaker will be Dr. David Erickson, community development director with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and a published author. Dr. Erickson will speak on the topic of health and housing, which is gaining increased attention because of the strong interconnection between health and housing in people's lives. Following his keynote, Dr. Erickson will stay to moderate an educational session on the same topic, giving attendees the chance to interact with him one-on-one.

A third keynote speaker will be Abby Ivory, manager of impact investing with the Sorensen Impact Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. This organization leads a national competition to identify innovative ways to make housing more affordable, which is of keen interest to the Housing Forum audience. Ivory will share some of the best ideas to come out of this year's Ivory Prize competition.

The identity of a fourth keynote speaker will be revealed closer to the event.

The 2019 forum offers numerous benefits for attendees, including:

• A wide variety of housing topics covered in 26 educational sessions;
• The inclusion of educational sessions covering the latest housing research findings on issues such as housing for seniors, the interconnections between health and housing, and the advantages of different approaches for providing affordable housing;
• A new feature is a bus tour, which will take conference attendees to Sunflower Fields just outside Harrisburg – a rental development which, after 15 years, will convert to homeownership;
• An awards ceremony recognizing some of the state's affordable housing pioneers and some of the best multifamily housing designs;
• An evening networking event for reconnecting with colleagues and meeting new business associates;
• A vendor exhibit hall for learning about new housing-related products and services;
• A special "Meet and Greet" so attendees can get to know some of the PHFA staff with whom they interact but may never have met face-to-face; and
• A lunchtime performance by popular pianist Peter Bottros, who works to support music education for young people through his Shine Music Foundation.

Early bird pricing for the Housing Forum is only $125 through April 7. After that date, registration increases to $175. The price to attend the Forum without pre-registering is $250. The $125 early bird pricing is the same registration cost PHFA has offered for the past ten years, while still adding enhancements to the event.

Detailed information about the 2019 forum and the four keynote speakers, as well as registration, is available at https://housingforum.phfa.org/. People with questions not answered on the website can contact conference organizer Susan Shermer at sshermer@shermer-assoc.com.

About PHFA 
The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency works to provide affordable homeownership and rental housing options for older adults, low- and moderate-income families, and people with special housing needs. Through its carefully managed mortgage programs and investments in multifamily housing developments, PHFA also promotes economic development across the state. Since its creation by the legislature in 1972, it has generated more than $14.1 billion of funding for more than 175,000 singlefamily home mortgage loans, helped fund the construction of 134,507 rental units, and saved the homes of nearly 49,600 families from foreclosure. PHFA programs and operations are funded primarily by the sale of securities and from fees paid by program users, not by public tax dollars. The agency is governed by a 14-member board. 

Media contact: 
Scott Elliott
717-649-6522 (cell)
selliott@phfa.org

SOURCE Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency