SOURCE:  Grubb & Ellis / WRS  Realty

The weakening economy slowed the flow of commercial real estate transactions nationwide to a trickle last year.

Only $17 billion of major apartment, industrial, office and retail properties changed hands during the fourth quarter last year, amounting to an 80 percent drop from fourth quarter 2007, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Commercial property sales volume for the whole year was down 69 percent, according to the MBA.

Commercial real estate sales in Greenville County dropped 36.5 percent in 2008, according to Greenville Property Pulse.

The local firm said 743 commercial properties were sold in Greenville County last year, compared with 1,168 properties in 2007.

The National Association of Realtors said in its latest Commercial Real Estate Outlook it expects commercial real estate activity to weaken further over the coming months.

Michael Dodds, owner of Greenville Property Pulse, said much of the decline in transactions is attributable to two things "sellers aren't reducing on their asking price and buyers are expecting to acquire at a 30 percent discount. The wide bid-ask gap sort of creates a stalemate."

Dodds said the reduced number of sales in Greenville County "makes it tough for brokers and appraisers to estimate the value of a property."

Jamie Woodwell, MBA's vice president of commercial/multifamily research, said during 2006 and 2007, there was just an extraordinary volume of property transactions.

"Given the capital markets at the time, given what was going on in the property markets, what was going on with property prices, there was a lot of incentive for sellers to sell and a lot of great market conditions for buyers to buy," he said. "We've seen a lot of those conditions shift pretty dramatically."

Woodwell said all sectors of commercial real estate were impacted, though for some the effects of the recession were more immediate.

"Certainly, stress in the retail sector has funneled through to retail properties. Likewise apartments, because they have generally short-term year-to-year leases, can feel the effects of the recession more quickly," he said.

Office properties tend to have longer leases and as a result both growth and slowdowns in the economy tend to be a little bit more muted in the sector, Woodwell said.

Apartment building sales had the largest decline of all commercial sectors between 2007 and 2008 with a 57.6 percent drop, according to Greenville Property Pulse. Sales in office buildings followed with a 44.3 percent decline between 2007 and 2008.

By  Angelia Davis • BUSINESS WRITER • April 3, 2009   The Greenville News

Today is Friday, March 6, 2009.  March has been off to a pretty busy start for me.  While the big commercial deals aren't getting done right now, there are things that are selling.  The primary business that is keeping me afloat is commercial leasing and representing home buyers.  Anyone that has a decent income, pretty good credit, and is thinking about buying a house, THIS IS THE TIME TO ACT.  I talk to real estate professionals all the time that have been in the business for many, many years, and most of them will agree that there has not been a better time to buy.  The interest rates are around 5% on a 30 yr fixed, the prices are down to record levels, etc.  All of the factors are there to make for some great deals.

 Of my last 5-10 transactions closed, most of them have been representing residential buyers.  These are not high dollar or waterfront properties, etc. by any means, but mostly first time homebuyers in the $200K range.  These are the houses that are selling and where there are some great deals to be found.  I constantly check the new inventory everyday to find the best deals on the market.  I've got mortgage brokers that I deal with that can get some very good financing packages right now as well.  Of my last 4-5 houses sold, we are getting an average of at least 10% off of the lowest asking price, and sellers paying closing costs and other concessions!!  I am getting my buyers excellent deals.  It is a great time to buy real estate.  Buy Low, Sell High.  If you or anyone you know is looking for a good buy on a house, contact me today.  

 Thanks again for checking out my website.

Scott 

    Despite the media "hype" and the ever-growing pessimism throughout the country about the real estate market and the economy in general, there are ways to benefit in this market.  The one thing that you can do in a "cooled off" market, which is actually just an adjusting market, is to buy real estate.  Everyone has heard that it's a Buyer's Market, but what does that mean. 

    I speak in general terms, but I am mostly referring to the Charleston, SC market.  This is my home town and my place of business.  This is the place that I live, read about, talk about, and am a part of everyday.  This is the market that I study day in and day out.  Some of my comments may pertain to the national scene, but I am basing them on the market that I know.

    A Buyer's Market means that there are some great advantages out there right now for someone looking to Buy real estate.  The housing market has definitely taken a big hit as lenders are pulling out, home builders are pulling out, and homeowners that purchases homes with "funny money" in recent years are realizing that they got in over their heads and they need to sell.  This leaves a lot of inventory out there and people that are deperate to get rid of it.  In turn, there are a lot of great deals for buyers.

    I am mainly referring to the residential market, but there are a lot of good deals in the commercial arena as well.  Everyday I keep up with new properties on the market, properties that have lowered prices, and properties that have sold.  I think that there are so many good deals for both investors and personal residences.  There are also small commercial properties that developers want to get rid of, and there is certainly land that homebuilders need to sell.  Some of these publicly-traded homebuilding companies are under a lot of pressure to fix their bottom lines, so they are dumping off land that they purchased over the last few years to build spec homes.  Some of these builders are selling their land at a greatly discounted price.

    The main idea here is that there is a winning Strategy for a "down" market.  It may not be the best time to sell, but it is the time to BUY, BUY, BUY.  If you, or anyone you know has some money to invest or is thinking of buying a home, now is the time to do it, while the market is cool.