You might be tempted to believe that after four years of brutal declines in home prices, the worst of the crisis is over. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index of prices has fallen back to where it was in 2003. Housing prices in Phoenix are at 2000 levels, and Las Vegas is revisiting 1999. Lower prices have made homes more affordable than they’ve been in a generation, and sales have gone up in six of the past nine months. “It’s very unlikely that we will see a significant further decline” in prices, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a July 3 appearance on CNN. “The real question is, when will we start to see sustainable increases? Some think

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Parag Khanna is a leading geo-strategist, world traveler and author of the international bestsellers, How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance and The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation. Stephen J. Kobrin, Wharton management professor and publisher of Wharton Digital Press, recently spoke with Khanna about his latest book, How to Run the World, the emergence of a postmodern Middle Ages, why mega-diplomacy is critical, and his views on the Middle East, including Gaddafi and the conflict in the Libya.

Below is an edited transcript of the conversation:

Stephen J. K

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The Home Builders Association of Louisville is kicking off Homearama 2011 this week at the Norton Commons Norton Commons Latest from The Business Journals Latest edition of new home showcase begins Saturday in Norton CommonsNorton Commons opening farmers market million office building planned for Norton Commons Follow this company development, near the Jefferson-Oldham county border.

Details of the annual marketing event are listed below.

For a related article on the event, print subscribers can .

To view a photo gallery of homes at Norton Commons and construction for the Homearama event, .

The Home Builders Association of Louisville is kicking off Homearama 2011 this week at the Norton Commons Norton Commons Latest from The Business Journals Latest edition of new home showcase begins Saturday in Norton CommonsNorton Commons opening farmers market million office building planned for Norton Commons Follow this company development, near the Jefferson-Oldham county border.

Details of the annual marketing event are listed below.

For a related article on the event, print subscribers can .

To view a photo gallery of homes at Norton Commons and construction for the Homearama event, .

Homearama 2011

While there were positive signs for commercial real estate in Tucson early this year, the outlook has dimmed in recent months.

Stagnant job growth and the slump in homebuilding continue to drag on the market, said Hank Amos, president and chairman of Tucson Realty & Trust Co. While other areas across the nation have seen some recovery, the local economy has yet to see those gains, he said.

“There’s really been no trickle down from the national economy,” he said.

Amos made the comments at Tucson Realty & Trust’s midyear forecast Wednesday at the Tucson Country Club.

Retailers hit the brakes

Many retailers appeared poised to take advantage of the downturn at the beginning of the year, said retail specialist David Houge.

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HBD Construction broke ground last week on the $18 million Jazz at Walter Circle senior living project in East St. Louis.

The 100,000-square-foot mixed-used development, located at North 15th Street and Bowman Avenue, will consist of a pair of four-story buildings separated by Walter Street and connected by three skybridges.

When completed within 14 months, the concrete facility will feature 74 elderly senior housing units on the second, third and fourth floors. The project is seeking LEED Silver or Gold certification, said Brian Kowert, operating officer at HBD. Each floor will have terraces for gardening and farming initiatives.

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