the possible recession in california... (buyer, shopping centers, money)

[the city]

so i heard the recession that california is going into, will cycle out in 3 years. that's all i remember about a recession. can anyone explain it more to me. like when it will be the worst and get better? and will it affect shopping centers being built?

[BRinSM]

the technical definition of a recession is 2 or more consecutive quarters of negative growth. Negative growth is when less money is spent that the prior quarter. I believe the 4th quarter of 07 showed very marginal growth, so we really won't know if we're technically in a recession until summer this year. However, many people are predicting a recession, which in turn effects buyer behavior. Regardless of whether we're currently in a recession or not, people are not spending as much money as they had before, which probably means that less shopping centers will be built.

[the city]

Does anyone know what the process of getting out of a recession is? I heard ithe market takes a dive, then freezes, then goes high and low, and then stabilizes, and goes up again. and i hear it will take 3 years for all this to happen.

[BRinSM]

anyone who guesses an amount of time it takes to get out of a recession is purely speculating. there is really no way to tell how long this whole process could take. it could be a few months, it could be a few years or longer.