Real estate in the Americas experienced a slowdown in 2011, as the European debt crisis and economic fits and starts at home inhibited the volume of commercial leasing and sales, but fundamentals point to a brighter 2012, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Economic Pulse report, released today. [more]

Though historically averse to social media and online marketing, the commercial real estate sector is increasingly giving these tools a shot, CoStar News reported.

“Clearly social media is still a divisive issue in commercial real estate — the difference in sentiment between enthusiastic adopters and major detractors parallels the sentiments in other industries driven by client relations, such as non-profits and law firms,” said Angela Brown, external communications manager for CoStar Group. [more]

The next year will bring slow but continued growth across all sectors of commercial real estate nationally, Grubb & Ellis’ 2012 National Real Estate Forecast released today says. The multi-family and hospitality sectors will perform best, with office leasing performing the worst of all commercial sectors. Equilibrium in office markets nationally will remain elusive due to financial uncertainty in Europe. The “flight to quality” continues in most U.S. office markets, and subpar growth through the end of 2012 is expected, the report says. [more]

Well-leased commercial buildings in major markets may not be as profitable as
many commercial real estate investors believe they are, the Wall Street Journal
reported. According to an analysis by Costar Group, many leases in top
markets such as New York City, San Francisco and other areas are set
to expire next year. And because of the weak economy, tenants might be
demanding significantly lower rents than they otherwise would. In
Manhattan, Costar found that despite recent gains,
current office rents are still nearly 28 percent below their peak prices in
2008. [more]

Though the U.S. commercial real estate market is relatively strong despite an uneven economy, a mass of debt due to mature between now and 2015 gives reason for pause, according to a commercial real estate report issued today by Deloitte.

Activity has increased by just about every measure, according to the report, because of the abundance of distressed properties for sale, the growing availability of capital to finance stable assets and the growing share of funds placed in real estate investment trusts.

At the same time, it remains to be seen how commercial investors react to new government regulation, such as the Dodd-Frank Act and the Volker Rule. Moreover, refinancing is still risky because of the huge quantity of real estate loans scheduled to mature by 2015, largely held by banks already facing liquidity challenges. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

President Obama and Midtown Manhattan

Now that the debt ceiling has been raised and budget cuts have been agreed upon, the real estate industry’s focus shifts to how the new legislation will affect the commercial market. And according to Chris Macke, a senior real estate strategist at the CoStar Group, in an article for Forbes, that all depends on whether the economy has slumped because of a reduction in demand, or because federal spending has corporations concerned over forthcoming tax hikes.

If it’s the former, then the commercial real estate market could be in for a rude awakening. With the federal government spending $2.7 trillion less over the next decade, or $270 billion less per year, many private sector companies who do big business with the government will find their revenues slashed. In that case, corporate America certainly would not increase hiring and demand for commercial real estate would be stifled. [more]

Mary Ann Tighe, CEO at CB Richard Ellis

Women are increasingly finding professional opportunity in commercial real estate, according to a study commissioned by Commercial Real Estate Women and administered by the Cornell University program for real estate, Real Town reported.

There was a 7 percent increase in the number of women entering professions related to commercial real estate between 2005 and 2010, the report shows. Overall, more women in commercial real estate, about 11 percent in 2010, are earning between $100,000 and $250,000. That’s a jump from only 8 percent in that bracket in 2005. In 2010, 31 percent of men were receiving that degree of compensation, down from 34 percent in 2005.
The number of women reporting less that $75,000 in compensation dropped from three times the number of men, to only twice the number. [more]

Commercial real estate markets continued to improve nationwide in the third quarter, with all property types tracked showing an improvement, according to a report from Moody’s released today. The Honolulu market ranked best among the cities tracked, scoring a 78 on Moody’s CMBS index, followed by New York City, which scored a 76. The hotel sector shows the greatest quarter-over-quarter improvement, climbing 30 points to a score of 54, while the central business district office market showed a five-point gain, reaching a 60-point index score. While Keith Banhazl, a Moody’s senior analyst, said that there’s reason to be optimistic, he said that the overall market is still on soft footing. “In general, the commercial real estate markets remain in the uncertain… range,” Banhazl said. “However, the future appears to brighten with each passing quarter.” TRD

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Commercial real estate prices fell 3.3 percent nationwide in August, according to Moody’s, marking the third time in a row that prices dropped between 3 percent and 4 percent month-over-month. The decline brings the Moody’s commercial property price index to its lowest point since the market downturn began, surpassing the previous low point recorded in October 2009. The index is now 45.1 percent below its peak in October 2007, according to Nick Levidy, managing director with Moody’s. “The commercial real estate market in the U.S. has become trifurcated with prices rising for performing trophy assets located in major market, [while] falling sharply for distressed assets, and remaining essentially flat for smaller healthy properties,” Levidy said. TRD

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Commercial real estate prices nationwide dropped 3.1 percent in July from the previous month, according to the Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index. Prices are down 43.2 percent from their October 2007 peak. Nick Levidy, a managing director with Moody’s, said that the decline had been expected. “The recent [commercial market] performance, while perhaps somewhat discouraging, should not come as a complete surprise,” Levidy said. “We have noted for several months than markets are likely to remain choppy for some time.” The news wasn’t bad for all markets, however — Florida saw its first multi-family property price increase since the start of the recession, climbing 10.8 percent year-over-year in July. TRD

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