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By Alex Zylberglait, December 18, 2009 10:15 pm

Price declines in the commercial property sector around the nation are dwindling slightly according to a report by the CCIM Institute and the Real Estate Research Corporation. And that a potentially meaningful recovery is projected to in about six months, the report said.

The quarterly report noted volume increases in the office, retail, apartment, and hotel sectors on a quarter-to-quarter basis, but it is still declining overall on a 12-month trailing basis.

In its 2010 forecast, the report said that credit is projected to remain stiff, and as more loans reach its due, bank foreclosures are expected to swell.  Commercial real estate sales volume and transactions are expected to increase as more entrepreneurial and opportunistic funds will flow into the market.

Contact me if you want to explore and seize opportunities in commercial real estate across the nation as I find the best investment strategy and the best fit between investors and property assets.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, December 17, 2009 2:30 pm

In a report by Reuters, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said that about the U.S. real estate that: “It is going to be a difficult situation for a period of time but it is not going to be a shock to the system. And there’s a big difference between the two.”

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo Securities said in its 2010 outlook report that  the economy will rebound, but will take a couple of years to return to levels seen a few years ago.

“Housing and commercial real estate are central to the recovery. It has been complicated by the stimulus programs. The future will be determined by the fundamentals, it is not likely to improve until employment and income improve, ” said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo. “We expect a 20 percent rebound in 2010 and 2011,” he said.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, December 16, 2009 2:37 pm

Moody’s Investor Services, learning from lessons received 20 years ago, predicts in a report that U.S. life insurers will suffer a less due to commercial-mortgage losses compared to banks. The commercial real estate market last went through a crisis 20 years ago which resulted in major losses for the life insurers.

“Life insurers’ portfolios today demonstrate that they have learned from past missteps dealing with commercial real estate,” said Senior Vice President Jeffrey Berg. Right now, the sector has only moderate exposure to commercial loans and these loans were well-diversified across geographies and property types as well as these loans were conservatively underwritten and maturities were well-distributed.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, December 15, 2009 11:17 pm

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. revealed today a significant increase in budget to deal with banks’ escalating woes which is at its fastest pace since 1992. The FDIC will boost its budget by 56% from $1.3 billion this year to $2.5 billion in 2010. They said thay will aslo increase staff by 1643 to handle bank failures.

“It will ensure that we are prepared to handle an even larger number of bank failures next year, if that becomes necessary, and to provide regulatory oversight for an even larger number of troubled institutions,” FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a statement.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, December 10, 2009 7:48 pm

The 2010 Emerging Trends in Real Estate, released by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute, forecasts that commercial real estate values will bottom in 2010 and that values will decline an average of 40 percent from their peak in 2007. The survey called this fall the worst commercial decline since the Great Depression and said it would overshadow the 1990s savings-and-loan crisis.

This is a great opportunity for cash investors to go for quality assets and realize returns as the economy bounces back.

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By Alex Zylberglait, December 7, 2009 4:17 pm

Got news today that a real estate giant in Qatar, called Barwa is exploring investment opportunities in US commercial real estate and is encouraging other investors to join him as he made a presentation at a one-day business seminar “Entering the US Market“.

Barwa Real Estate Company deputy chief executive officer and Group Strategy & Investment executive director Mohamed Abdul Aziz al-Saad said in a report that the company’s investment exploration will be focused on commercial properties.

The company with over QR25bn (USD6.8bn) in assets value, has previously invested in Sudan, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Switzerland, France, Turkey, among other countries, as part of its international portfolio.

“It’s not going to be centered on coastal areas in the US only…” al-Saad added.

More and more foreigners are seeing opportunities opening up for commercial real estate investments. Howabout you, what do you see? From wherever part of the globe you are, opportunities are opening up here in the U.S for foreign investors. Contact me for a free consultation.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, November 30, 2009 1:38 pm

OK, so here are some good news in terms of the desired movement in the commercial real estate sector. Thirty five (35) percent of global investors plan to increase their property allocation in their portfolios over the next two years.  This is double the seventeen (17) percent who plan to reduce it over the same period according to the Barclays Wealth and Economist Intelligence Unit (BARC.L) survey. This is because they foresee better long-term returns in real estate than from stocks and bonds.

The U.S. was rated at the top as the most popular nation for investment, with 16 percent of the global investors saying they are expecting to see the best returns here. Sixty eight (68) percent of these investors said that the opportunities are in the commercial properties. Belief that properties are now undervalued was the second most common reason cited for increasing investment.

Barclay’s survey has 2,000 respondents. Forty percent were worth 500,000 pounds to 1 million pounds. An additional 40 percent were worth between 1 million pounds and 10 million pounds. Ten percent had assets of as much as 30 million pounds and the rest were wealthier.

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By AZ Advisory Team, November 26, 2009 10:28 pm

While we’re seeing trouble in the commercial real estate sector, increased and sustained consumer spending on the national level will produce more jobs and ultimately drive commercial real estate up.

For all of those trying to steer clear of Black Friday’s madness, retailers are cutting you a break.

In New York, Macy’s, Pier One and other big merchants are extending the year’s biggest shopping day beyond Friday to keep reeling in shoppers, as many need extra convincing to part with their pennies. Stores and online merchants are scrambling to come up with novel ways to motivate Black Friday shoppers after last year’s weak earnings. Sales were down 2.2 percent in 2008, the largest decline since the International Council of Shopping Centers started keeping records in 1970, according to the trade group.

This year, Lord and Taylor, Office Max and Century 21 are offering deals throughout the weekend. Others retailers started slashing prices before Black Friday. “They’d rather have a little less profit than watch the dollar walk away entirely,” said Larswell, who got an early $50 discount on  a leather jacket at a midtown store Thursday, a day before the sale was supposed to start.

Still, some shoppers out on Thanksgiving worried all the good deals would be gone by the weekend. And others thought the extended run defeated the point of Black Friday. “It’s about the thrill of the hunt,” said Jeanne Baskett, of Harlem, who was shopping along 32nd Street in midtown Thursday.

While there is hope that Black Friday shopping will be more robust than last year, many consumers are still sitting on the fence. According to the National Retail Federation, an estimated 77 million Americans will wait to decide whether to shop after checking out the deals, as compared to 57 million who expected to definitely hit the stores.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, November 19, 2009 4:09 pm

U.S. commercial real estate transactions rose in the third quarter for the first time since around 2007 but is still way down from a year earlier, said the National Association of Realtors. This organizatio, which hosted the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego which ended last Monday, said in its report that Commercial Leading Indicator for brokerage activity index rose 0.9 percent from the prior quarter’s fifteen-year low to 102.4, the first rise since the second quarter of 2007. Still, the index is 11.1 percent below the 115.3 reading in the third quarter of last year.

But NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun, stressed that the lack of financing for commercial real estate transactions is slowing down our economic recovery. Yun addressed the government to take action to relieve some of the lending pressure as banks become troubled with the increase of toxic loan portfolios over-leveraged by commercial properties that are losing value now.  Banks then become shy about lending money which create a challenging environment for commercial transactions.

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By Alex Zylberglait, November 16, 2009 9:32 am

As we continue to track the amount of debt in distress across all product types and geographies, it is evident that it’s a matter of time until lenders begin to divest these assets. Even though they currently do not have as much pressure to realize losses immediately they will eventually have to do something about it. Considering they are not generally lending money at this time, the increased defaults will only make their balance sheets that much more unattractive. Having said that, I do not believe that we are likely to see an RTC 2 of some sort but rather the divestiture of troubled or toxic assets will likely come in the form of waves; that is as bank’s balance sheets gradually improve they will likely divest of certain assets over time. The wildcard in all of this, of course, is any kind of government intervention that would act to accelerate or decelerate this probable scenario.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.