Real estate executives at last Friday’s Akerman U.S. Real Estate Summit in Miami are more optimistic about the commercial real estate market than in the recent past. In a survey of participants, 82 percent of respondents expressed greater confidence and an improved outlook for the industry, a 6 percent increase over last year, with 50 percent citing the improving U.S. economy as the primary driver for their optimism.
There was broad consensus among survey respondents that the multifamily sector would be the most active in terms of the number of real estate transactions, foreign investment and return to pre-recession development levels in 2012, the organizers said.
“The outlook for the commercial real estate industry in 2012 is bright, but the recent recovery is still tenuous, and could be dampened by a range of factors, including the continued uncertainty in Europe, persistent restraints on debt and equity financing and the threats to the health of the U.S. economy due to rising energy costs,” said Richard Bezold, chaiman of the Akerman National Real Estate Practice Group.
Respondents cited the policies of the current administration (38 percent) and global economic uncertainty (30 percent) as reasons for a lack of confidence in the industry’s outlook for 2012.
Most respondents (43 percent) cited availability of credit as the most pressing issue facing the real estate industry right now. However, that number is down 10 percent from 2011. The belief that uncertainty of government policy is the number one concern for the industry has doubled to 25 percent this year.
Winston Rowe and Associates 