The worst seems to be over for commercial real estate

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PWC), latest quarterly Korpacz Real Estate Investor Survey, commercial real estate vacancy rates will stabilize in 2010. Investors are looking to invest significant sums of money in 2010 and this news should comfort them. “The worst seems to be over, according to survey participants, as investors suggest that the bottom is near, if not here, particularly for better-positioned markets and assets,” said Susan Smith, director of real estate advisory practice at PWC. The report says the investor optimism regarding commercial real estate recovery is currently at the highest since the last couple of years. The survey participants said the capitalization rates will remain steady in 19 of 30 markets covered by the PWC study. “Following the onset of the recession and the credit crisis, underlying fundamentals were deteriorating and overall cap rates were expanding simultaneously and quickly, causing values to plummet,” Smith said. In 200
9, commercial real estate investments dropped 17.1% but 2010 looks like a better year. For example, Valeo Fund, a private equity firm, targets to make investments in $1trillion worth commercial mortgages set to mature between 2010 and 2013. Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate (CRE) services provider, has projected a 30% increase in global CRE investments in 2010.