SIOR President Geoffrey Kreusser Urges Government to Energize Private Sector Business

Address at Annual IOREBA/SIOR Joint Meeting Focuses on Broad Range of National and International Issues. End Quote

New York, NY (1888PressRelease) February 08, 2012 - "The annual joint meeting of the Industrial and Office Brokers Association of the New York Metropolitan Area (IOREBA) and the New York and New Jersey Chapters of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) at the New York Athletic Club was a tremendous success with over 100 people in attendance," stated David A. Simon, President of IOREBA and Cassidy Turley Managing Principal of New Jersey. "Our two speakers provided our members and guests with an interesting and informative overview of the commercial real estate market from a national and local perspective."

Conceding that the overall business investment, real estate, and the exporting climate is "disappointing," SIOR national president Geoffrey Kreusser called 2011 "Groundhog Day," a reference to the Bill Murray movie in which he wakes up to the same day over and over again.

"The year began with unemployment at 9.4 percent," noted Kreusser, principal at Colliers International in Denver. "2010 had set a record for foreclosures. We watched a Congress unable to address our debt crisis. Crisis after crisis eroded confidence," he said, citing the earthquake and its after-effects in Japan and uncertainty surrounding the euro.

"We saw just 26 of this country's 100 largest cities have job gains in all of the last four quarters, and the southern metropolitan areas specializing in government, transportation, and warehousing continued to suffer," he said.

Alluding to the Groundhog Day reference, "the start of 2012 continues to see lackluster corporate spending, the bank lending climate, unemployment, crushing debt levels, and uncertainty about government regulations keeping consumer confidence weak," Kreusser said. "The dissatisfaction continues."

For international real estate in particular, "the U.S. still offers the most secure option for investment, especially in the major markets," Kreusser said. "But the secondary and tertiary markets will continue to struggle, as will the heavy exposure to the housing industry in Phoenix, Detroit, Atlanta, Las Vegas, most Florida cities, and certain California markets.

"We need the government to energize the private sector and not hold back, as America's best and most valuable export is innovation," he concluded.

As to the Tri-State area's commercial real estate market, Robert Sammons, vice president of Cassidy Turley in New York, painted a mixed picture, with stronger numbers in New York City compared to other regional submarkets. New York City's office vacancy rate of approximately 11 percent at year-end 2011 was second nationally only to Washington, D.C.'s 10 percent, while Northern New Jersey (approximately 15 percent) and Central New Jersey (17 percent) were mid-pack nationally. For New Jersey, one somewhat brighter spot was Jersey City's 10.2 percent rate.

Lower vacancy rates generally mean higher rents, with New York's average of approximately $54 per square foot tops nationally at the end of 2011, according to Sammons. Northern New Jersey ($25 per square foot) and Central New Jersey ($24) were again mid-pack. Despite the highest average rents nationally, New York saw four million square feet of positive net absorption in 2011, second only to California's San Jose-Silicon Valley market. Central New Jersey, in contrast, experienced zero net absorption, and Northern New Jersey saw 1.25 million square feet of negative net absorption.

However, the New York region is not an island unto itself, Sammons noted. "New York does not exist in a bubble," he concluded. "The dysfunction within the Washington D.C. beltway and such global issues such as the euro zone crisis will continue to put severe pressure on any further recovery locally."

With roots dating back to 1927, IOREBA is one of the nation's largest regional commercial real estate groups, growing to more than 300 members conducting business in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The organization has continually expanded its offerings, designing more useful programs, and teaming with co-hosts for several events to improve the networking environment. To assist members in difficult economic times, IOREBA has also cut costs for events and membership to ensure that members are able to take full advantage of everything the organization has to offer.

If you would like to become a member, visit http://www.ioreba.com/ for an application and instructions. If you have any questions, please e-mail David Simon at david.simon ( @ ) cassidyturley dot com.

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