"There are a number of factors at work in the eagerness of Blackstone to sell, and the eagerness of investors to buy, so many office properties," Delores Conway, director of Casden Forecast at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, told CPN this afternoon. "One of those is definitely the interest-rate climate, which is going to help inspire a short-time holder with high leverage such as Blackstone to sell. "But she emphasized that interest rates aren't the only reason. "On the demand side of the equation, there's a confluence of stronger fundamentals in the office market than we've seen in years--office jobs are being created in most markets, but there hasn't been much office construction in recent years," she said. "Also, there's still a lot of money, especially pension funds, REITs and overseas investors, looking to buy and hold real estate."
June 21, 2007