Real estate experts disagree about 2010

While Cushman&Wakefield are betting on an increase in the industrial sector by up to 30-40 percent in the fourth quarter of next year, CBRE/Eurisko officials, much more pessimistic, said this sector does not stand a chance in 2010. DTZ representatives are most reserved, saying they prefer to wait and watch the general evolution of the economy before making any forecast on the real estate market for the coming year.

“It is difficult to foresee which market sector will be the first to bounce back. We expect the rebound to occur in areas where the decline was earlier. The first signs of recovery on the real estate market are associated with the resuming of financing and the improvement of the economic situation,” Oana Iliescu, Joint Managing Director of DTZ Echinox, told Business Standard. DTZ Echinox is the third-largest real estate consultancy agency on the market in terms of net sales, worth some €5.6 million in 2008. Land was the first real estate segment affected by the crisis, followed by investments and residential, according to company officials.

Gabriel Sfetcu, Head of the Industrial Department at Cushman&Wakefield, said that industrial parks and logistics spaces will be the first to resume growth. One of the agency’s goals for 2010 is reaching a 30 percent market share on the industrial transaction segment, which, according to the official, will register the fastest recovery next year.

The chief of CBRE/Eurisko is pessimistic. He said that demand on the industrial segment will not rise significantly in 2010, and the market, on the whole, will not show signs of recovery next year.

“The market will not bounce back until drastic measures are taken to unblock financing,” said Radu Lucianu, Managing Director of CBRE.