The number of commercial real-estate sales rose sharply in December, triggering fresh debate about whether the sector has reached bottom.

Property sales, a gauge of market health, rose 75% in December from the prior month, according to Real Capital Analytics. The end of the year traditionally sees an increase in volume. But the recent increase is significant even after adjusting for that, says Neal Elkin, president of REAL, a research firm that analyzed the data.

To view the entire article please click here

NAI Realvest recently negotiated new long-term leases for a 32,736-square-foot industrial building at 6363 Edgewater Drive, Orlando. Sean DuPree, associate at the company, negotiated the transaction representing the tenant, Allied Building Products Corp. of East Rutherford, N.J. The landlord is Orlando-based Smyth Lumber Company Trust No.1, which was represented by Matt Sullivan and Wilson McDowell at Colliers Arnold.

To view the entire article please Click Here

Nearly 3,000 small U.S. banks could be forced to dramatically curtail their lending because of losses on commercial real-estate loans, a congressional inquiry concluded.

The findings, set to be released Thursday by the Congressional Oversight Panel as part of its scrutiny of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, point to yet another obstacle for the slow-moving economic recovery. The small banks being threatened by loans they made for shopping centers, offices, hotels and apartments represent a major cog in the U.S. credit system, especially to entrepreneurs.

To view the entire article please Click Here

The Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau reported last week a 3.7 percent increase in the number of events booked in the county’s giant convention center in the previous six months. The number of people attending, the number of hotel stays and the amount of money spent were all up, too, from the same period a year ago.

To view the entire article please Click Here

Bank lending to small businesses remains hampered as banks buckle under intense scrutiny from regulators to reduce risk on their balance sheets, meaning only businesses with high credit ratings and robust track records have a chance of getting a loan.

Having already tried multiple programs to tackle this problem, the U.S. government continues to propose solutions, such as the recently announced $30 billion allocation of relief funds for community banks. Thus far, most of the initiatives haven’t made a substantial impact, primarily because they fail to entice lenders to participate or they target too few business owners.

To view the entire article please Click Here

For public real-estate companies, spending money has turned out to be harder than raising it—even as some signs point to a pickup in big property deals.

Real-estate investment trusts sold $24 billion in new stock last year, raising hopes the companies would be able to profit from commercial-property distress by picking up high-quality real estate at bargain prices.

But publicly traded REITs bought only $4.6 billion of property in 2009, a 67% decline from the previous year, according to research firm Real Capital Analytics.

To view the entire article please Click Here

America’s industrial base is undergoing its most radical restructuring in decades as manufacturers rethink their businesses in the wake of the recession.

From Dow Chemical Co. to Intel Corp., iconic companies are telling stories of wrenching change—both contraction and recovery—as they report their earnings for 2009.

Dow Chemical said Tuesday it is aiming to shed some $2 billion worth of basic-chemical factories and other assets this year as it moves into more-profitable specialty chemicals. Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. said it cut about a tenth of its capacity in 2009 as it struggled with a 9.6% drop in sales. Intel, by contrast, is investing billions of dollars in its U.S. plants as demand for computer gear recovers.

To view the entire article please Click Here