Looking ahead to 2012, one can only hope the previous year’s upswings will continue. However, predictions, by definition, are not certainties. Things can change on a dime: natural disasters, international upheaval, presidential election year surprises; they all have an effect on markets worldwide.
Economists point to 2012 as a year of both positive and negative trends for the commercial real estate sector, with slow improvement being the underlying theme, especially in the New York metropolitan area. While the U.S. economy slowly rights itself and construction activity remains at record-low levels, driving better rent and vacancy trends, foreign investors should continue to capitalize on advantageous opportunities. Cap and interest rates are coming down to pre-recession levels. However, the volatile political and economic situations in Europe could potentially put a wrench in that positive forecast and is something to monitor carefully.
According to a new white paper from Forward Management, LLC, the recovery is expected to play out unevenly across the U.S. and international markets, with the first wave focused on knowledge-based, gateway cities and technology corridors. Cities recover more quickly than outlying areas, having more job growth and business opportunities. It spells a continuation of good news for the city of New York which also has greater ties to global and financial trading.
We at Berko & Associates are optimistic about the New York market as the fundamentals are only getting stronger. We have gone through expansion and aggressive hiring of professional associates with multiple complimentary backgrounds to our commercial real estate business; investment bankers, wall street finance professionals, developers and seasoned brokers have recently joined the ranks of Berko & Associates. I believe in our firm’s diversity as a way to reach a wider market segment and better serve our growing client’s demand for quality real estate services in the coming year.