Is Commercial Real Estate Still Profitable in Today’s Market - YES!
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007Daily Real Estate News | November 27, 2007Commercial Real Estate Still Profitable Investment
So far, the softening in the real estate market hasn’t been felt in commercial property. There appears to be only a slight decline in 2007 vs. 2006.
Apartments have benefited from the still-high home prices and tightened mortgage-lending standards, although the increases have slackened slightly from 5 percent to 4 percent. Office properties are up 1 percentage point to 10 percent. Shopping centers are down 0.5 percent. Warehouses are up 4 percent and still in demand.
Over the past 12 months commercial real estate has returned an average 13 percent (property appreciation plus rental income), says commercial brokerage house Marcus & Millichap. That tops the 8.4 percent total return from the S&P 500 and the approximately 3 percent return from single-family homes.
Forbes magazine suggests that anyone interested in becoming a commercial landlord should ask the following questions before deciding how to go about it:
- Do you want to invest on your own or in a group?
- How much work do you want to put into your property?
- Is a 1031 exchange worthwhile, or will fees eat up the delayed tax benefits?
- Would you make more money buying a publicly traded REIT?
Source: Forbes, Dorothy Pomerantz (12/10/07)
