Survey: Investors See Weak CRE Recovery

Investors expect only a weak recovery for commercial real estate markets next year, which they view as a transition period, according to an annual survey of CRE industry experts.The report, Emerging Trends in Real Estate: 2004, says the respondents believe that any recovery will be tempered by corporate outsourcing of jobs overseas, employment weakness, and government fiscal problems. The market is still characterized by weak fundamentals such as high vacancy rates, falling rents, and rising property taxes and operating expenses, said the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers, which jointly publish the report. "No one expects a sudden rebound -- rents will be flat in most sectors, down more for office," the report says. "Income returns carry the day, appreciation will be negligible and many office markets will experience value dips or worse." The organizations can be found online at http://www.uli.org and http://www.pwcglobal.com.