Commercial Real Estate Update

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE SECTORS REMAIN ON SOUND COURSE Commercial real estate sectors continue to perform well with sound market fundamentals, according to a commercial market update and forecast presented at a forum on commercial business trends at the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, Nov. 13. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, expects vacancy rates to trend down in most commercial markets next year and said recent disruptions in the mortgage market have not had a similar impact on the commercial sectors. At the same time, Yun said confidence issues have been a factor in some of the cancelled or postponed transactions. “Not all commercial investors are immune to the psychological effects of Wall Street gyrations or credit concerns, but they should take heart in that pension funds have been increasing their allocation in commercial sectors,” he said.