The worst may be over for the U.S. commercial real estate industry. In fact, well over half of industry participants – including developers, investors, lawyers and financiers – are now signaling that markets are entering a period of recovery. Cautious recovery is evident, with three out of five executives describing their outlook as opportunistic – and just over one in 10 additional executives saying their behavior will be aggressive, since they see conditions as ripe for long-term investments.
Seeking to gauge conditions and outlooks for the industry, Forbes Insights, in association with CIT (NYSE: CIT), a leading financial services company serving the real estate community, conducted an October 2013 survey of industry participants. Interpreting responses from 208 senior, U.S.-based middle market commercial real estate executives, the survey reveals that:
• Commercial real estate is in cautious recovery
• Markets are mixed, but feature both aggression and opportunism
• Trends in interest rates and unemployment top industry concerns
• Taxation and regulation are hindering performance
• Though government budgets may be tight, investors want tax credit and incentives concessions
• Financing ranges from overabundant to spotty
