Real Estate Executives See 2010 Recovery

Real estate leaders say that and commercial real estate rebounds will come around 2010.

By: Henry Berkowitz In a recent poll of real estate leaders, 60 percent say that the current credit crisis is likely to continue until 2010. The survey, conducted by DLA piper, a law firm, showed that real estate execs believe that this is the most significant event to hit the commercial real estate industy in 20 years. 424 of the nation's top real estate gurus were polled, many of whom are in the DC/NYC metro area. And 67 percent of D.C. respondents believe cap rates are headed up in the next year. In terms of outside aid, 40 percent of D.C. respondents believe foreign investors will be the most active in the U.S. in the coming years. 80 percent of respondents to the survey believe that the recent Lehman Brothers, AIG, and Merril Lynch developments do not necessarily foretell the "bottom" of the credit crisis, nor do they think that it signifies even the beginning of the end of the crunch. Foreign investment has played a major role in keeping real estate prices in the New York City metro area in check, preventing a significant decline in the real estate markets in the area. According to analysts, the prices have remained mostly stable due, in part, to the investment of foreign buyers in the local markets.