"As an industry, we're relatively poor in training and establishing a platform for people to enter the industry," said William Flaherty, senior vice president of Maguire Properties, during the Industry Leaders Talk panel. "This has been offset a bit by the community colleges and universities aggressively improving their real estate programs, but much more still needs to be done."

Chris Hite, president of Coreland Cos., agreed, adding that he feels the upcoming generation can bring a slew of talents that will be needed for future real estate managers. "No longer does a real estate manager need to just be proficient in the operation of real estate, they now need accounting skills, they need to be Wall Street-oriented, they need to be able to manage people," he said. "There is a shortage of very talented, young managers in the community. We're not doing a good job of training and getting the message out."

Kevin Baldridge, a fellow panelist and senior vice president of operations for the Irvine Co., said one way companies can target the younger generations is through advertising on not only real estate-based web sites, but on social networks that are geared toward the college and post-college crowd.