From left: Pamela Liebman of the Corcoran Group and Dolly Lenz of Prudential Douglas Elliman

Two new additions have been announced for The Real Deal’s fifth annual forum, “Distressed Opportunities: Taking advantage of distress and searching for a real estate recovery.” Dolly Lenz, vice chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman, and Pamela Liebman, president and CEO of the Corcoran Group, will join the all-star panel of real estate executives, analysts and economists. Other panelists include economist Nouriel Roubini, co-founder and chairman of RGE Monitor and NYU professor of economics; Coney Island developer Joseph Sitt, CEO of Thor Equities; Plaza developer Miki Naftali, president and CEO of the Elad Group, and Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. The event, to be held Oct. 14 at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, will be moderated by Brian Sullivan, an anchor at Fox Business News. The forum will kick off at 3 p.m. with a networking and exhibition period, followed by the main event at 6:30 p.m. More panelists will be announced. Seating is limited. Tickets cost $80 and can be purchased by clicking here or calling Centercharge at (212) 721-6500. TRD [more]

Unemployment has become a more significant driver of foreclosures than
subprime mortgages, bankers and economists said, which will make the
foreclosure crisis even more complicated. About 1.8 million borrowers
are likely to lose their homes to foreclosure this year, compared to
1.4 million last year, according to Moody’s Economy.com. Home losses
due to unemployment are harder to address, economists said, because it
is easier to work with lenders to modify mortgages than to create jobs
for struggling homeowners. [more]