The fee for all is over

I traveled coast to coast last week making Emerging Trends presentations and here are some observations:

Real estate pros get increasingly spooked by the economic news.  In particular, execs working in the capital markets show more frustration and angst. It’s beginning to dawn on folks that heady transaction volumes enjoyed for most of the past decade won’t be repeated next year, and brokers and bankers realize the fee-for-all is over for  a while. The closer people are to the debt markets the higher the gloom quotient — refi risk jangles nerves. Commercial developers naturally tend to be more optimistic — they have no choice with projects going up. Skill sets become more valued for leasing, property management and workouts.