CRE Show: Slow Development Means Opportunities for Landowners and Buyers
"Commercial Real Estate Show" looks at the development slowdown has impacted land prices and rezoning feasibility.
- Atlanta, GA (1888PressRelease) December 06, 2011 - Residential and commercial development have slowed to a crawl in recent years, but the slumbering market is presenting valuable opportunities for both potential land buyers and current landowners.
Guests on this week's "Commercial Real Estate Show" participated in a wide-ranging discussion about land and development trends. Topics included record-low land prices, the best land-acquisition opportunities, the eagerness of local governments to rezone properties for development, and the health of the residential housing markets.
"Land is an incredible buy right now," said Perry Hayes, an associate broker at Bull Realty Inc. "There are some tremendous deals out there. This is one of the best times to take advantage of some of the best prices we've ever seen."
Hayes noted that infill residential land and land along interstate corridors are land types that should be in demand in the future and would therefore constitute smart buys.
Demand for land for apartments has heated up, but zoning attorney Woody Galloway, a principal with The Galloway Law Group, said he's also recently seen some increased demand for land from the office and industrial sectors.
While the record-low land prices are presenting good opportunities for potential buyers, the snail's pace of development means that local governments are more willing than ever to work with landowners to rezone properties for future use. "It's much to [cities' and counties'] advantage to make the process easier," Galloway said. "You've got many different property owners who are deciding this is the time to reposition their properties to make them more marketable once the climate comes back."
Meanwhile, the residential housing market continues to sputter along. Steve Palm, president of Smart Numbers, opened the show with an overview of the market and noted "prices in September and October reached new bottoms, unfortunately."
High-growth Southeastern cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., and Orlando, Fla., have performed particularly poorly, Palm noted. He added that median home prices in Atlanta fell to 1993 levels this fall.
Palm did say that residential foreclosures will decline in 2012 - if only because there will be fewer homes to foreclose on - and predicted that smaller homes will be in demand in the future because Baby Boomers will want to downsize as they age and first-time homebuyers are likely to have less buying power.
Other topics included land appraisals, the extent to which lenders are foreclosing on land and the potential impact of the 2012 elections.
The show is available for download at www.CREshow.com.
The next "Commercial Real Estate Show" airs Dec. 10 and will examine tax strategies for commercial real estate.
About the "Commercial Real Estate Show":
America's "Commercial Real Estate Show" is a national talk radio show about commercial real estate. New shows are available every Thursday at the show website, www.CREshow.com. Shows are also broadcast on AM stations, including Atlanta stations Biz 1190 on Saturday at 10 a.m. and Talk 920 on Sunday at 9 a.m. Show podcasts are available on-demand on iTunes and the show website.
The show host is 30-year commercial real estate veteran Michael Bull, CCIM. Michael is the founder of Bull Realty, Inc, a regional commercial brokerage firm with three offices headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
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