Recent Survey of Retail Owners

Recent survey of retail owners:

Execs expect retail property recovery by 2010, survey showsA majority of commercial real estate executives believe that the credit crisis is having a greater impact on the industry than any other event of the past two decades, according to a survey by global law firm DLA Piper. Of 424 commercial real estate executives queried, some 60 percent said they believe that the situation has been more detrimental to real estate than the savings-and-loan crisis of the late 1980s and early ’90s. The survey was taken last week after Lehman Bros. declaration of bankruptcy; the government’s bail out of AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; and the sale of Merrill Lynch at a discount to Bank of America.

The survey also indicates that hotel and retail investment has fallen out of favor and will be among the least attractive investments for the next 12 months. Just 6 percent of respondents chose retail as the most attractive commercial real estate sector to invest in. Multifamily housing appears to be the most appealing sector, with exactly 50 percent of respondents choosing that option as the preferred investment class. By comparison, 15 percent of respondents to a similar survey in 2005 chose retail investment as the most attractive, and 14 percent in 2007. Roughly 62 percent said they do not expect the real estate markets to stabilize until 2010, and 22 percent do not expect it until 2011. Two out of three respondents said they think Sen. McCain is likely to have a more favorable impact on the industry as president than Sen. Obama. (SCT Week Vol. 12 No. 38)

If you are thinking about selling or buying, now would be a good time to talk.