Vacancy rates continue to rise in most commercial sectors and are not expected to level out in most markets until the end of this year or early 2011. The bright spot is the multifamily sector, which can expect increased demand as the economy creates jobs and new households are formed, likely in the second half of this year. "The office, warehouse, and retail sectors continue to experience the delayed effects of the recession," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. "These sectors should see gradual improvement after jobs pick up and create additional demand for space, meaning a broader improvement in commercial real estate is likely in 2011." Let's look forward to that and a more stable rest of this year!
It is that time again. We are hosting our "Third Annual New England Commercial Real Estate Golf Tournament" on August 12th, at the Windham County Club in Windham NH. Each year we have doubled the number of participants, so don't get left out, sign up today.
This event is put on by our New England Chapter, along with the Realtor Commercial Alliance of Massachusetts and the New Hampshire CIBOR, all for the benefit of "Operation Homefront New England" a wonderful organization that provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors.
And finally, on the education front, I have the honor of presenting the CCIM Excel Calculator Class on Tuesday, August 10th at the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley, 221 Industry Ave., Springfield, Mass. During this class, you'll be introduced to the CCIM Institute's Excel Calculator and will learn how to run Time Value Money calculations taught in CCIM courses. By the end of the session, you will be able to use all 5 components of the Time Value Money model to calculate payment periods, interest rates, present values, payments, and future values. You'll also learn how to use the calculator to figure net present values and internal rate of return. The cost for this program to New England CCIM chapter members is $35.00 and $45.00 to non members. These classes sell out fast, so sign up today at www.neccim.com. Don't forget to bring your laptops with you, you will get the program to install on the day of the course
Sandy Brown, CCIM, is the 2010 president of the CCIM New England chapter, Boston.