2009 Second Quarter Real Estate Update

It seems as though the commercial and agricultural markets are still in the correction stages without many sales, with the exception of distressed property sales. Sellers are starting to ask less and less about prices; however, it is still not enough to entice potential buyers. Buyers are being very patient in this market, not wanting to tie up cash reserves too early and have the market continue to decline. The income-producing properties still seem to have a demand; however, owners wanting to sell good cash-flowing properties are few and far between.

As we all expected, the financial crisis is starting to affect the commercial real estate market by: 1) making it very difficult for buyers to get loans and 2) existing owners are having trouble getting refinanced due to appraisals coming below their loan amounts. It will be interesting to see whether our government gets involved in the commercial market as they did in the residential sector. Unfortunately, not everyone will like where this market ends up, but it will undoubtedly create a lot of opportunity for investors with cash. We look for buyers to start taking advantage of the market towards the end of 2009 and early 2010.

For more information, contact the Heartland Real Estate Corp. office at (863) 382-3887 or online at www.HeartlandRE.net.