Commercial & Residential Property Blog

It comes as no surprise that 2009 was a bad, bad year for property sales across the globe. According to Real Capital Analytics’ new Global Capital Trends report, the volume of commercial property sold last year reached only $381 billion, a staggering 30 percent drop from 2008. However, the commercial real estate capital investment markets research firm found that the tide began to turn in the fourth quarter of 2009 when volume reached $147 billion, marking the first year-over-year quarterly increase in seven quarters.

They’ve built a war chest to take advantage of distressed properties, Brodwin says.

The REITs want to be more active in 2010 than 2009. No one is sure just how much, though. Green Street Advisors, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based consulting and research firm, says the REITs have announced guidance for $2 billion to $2.5 billion in acquisitions this year, after tallying less than $500 million last year. Already, they’ve closed on about one-half to one-third of the $2 billion to $2.5 billion target, however, according to the firm.