Foreclosure activity has fallen throughout the country, slowed by paperwork problems rather than an improvement in the market.

During the first six months of 2011, 84% of U.S. cities with populations of 200,000 or higher posted declines in new foreclosure activity, according to a study released today by RealtyTrac, a real-estate research firm. Foreclosure activity slowed in 178 of the nation’s 211 metropolitan areas when compared with last year.

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The nation’s bankers are sounding more optimistic about the commercial real estate markets than at any time since the onslaught of the Great Recession in 2007. In their second quarter earnings conference calls over the past week, several spoke of plans to re-enter the CRE market or actually reported CRE loan growth already.

Bankers also reported increased demand from CRE borrowers and increasing competition for new business – particularly multifamily. The level of interest in CRE lending was similar from both big banks and community banks.

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In a sign that the Central Florida industrial market is improving, in the past 60 days Matt Sullivan, SIOR, CCIM, and Wilson McDowell, CCIM, of Colliers International Central Florida have closed 23 industrial deals totaling just over 630,000sf of transactions.

Several notable transactions include leases for Orange County, Super Color and Peninsula Food Service, and investment sales of properties on North Goldenrod Road and University Boulevard.

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Central Florida’s economy is on the mend this year, despite businesses’ overall feelings to the contrary.

Consider this data:

• Second quarter’s commercial office space vacancy rate of 20.7 percent was 2 points better than the same period last year, which indicates more people are being hired to occupy those previously empty spaces.

• Small Business Administration lending was up by a third in Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake counties from October through June, an indication that business startups and expansions are on the rise and more people are being hired for that additional work.

• Roughly 6,600 jobs were created between May 2010 and May 2011, putting more dollars in circulation, which could boost hiring even more if companies see a rise in consumer spending

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Orlando’s status as a biotech cluster may get a dose of inhaled steroids.

Orlando-based Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp., which makes generic respiratory drugs, is planning a $100 million expansion with 100 new, high-wage jobs in either Orlando or Murray, Ky.

“We’re very hopeful that Orlando is where the facility will end up, but we’d be remiss not to consider our options,” said Nephron CEO Lou Kennedy.

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If anything has been predictable about the 2011 commercial real estate market recovery, it’s that it has been unpredictable. For a year that began with much promise following the increased leasing activity, thawing capital flow and widening investor interest that characterized the second half of last year, the momentum in the market seems to have flattened out.

This has been more baffling than discouraging to real estate professionals across the country. Key indicators across a wide number of local markets still hold promise for more vigorous activity. However, according to a survey of readers conducted by CoStar News, landlords, lenders, investors and tenants just aren’t making the connections in the marketplace needed to jump start a sustained recovery.

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Emptiness is what people see today when they drive through the monogrammed iron gates of Lake Drawdy Reserve in east Orange County. There are paved cul-de-sacs, lakefront lots and fancy frosted-glass streetlights. But nobody lives there.

Thirty years from now, they will likely see 28 upscale homes occupied by young families, residents from abroad, refugees from coastal counties, in-migrants from other states and well-to-do retirees.

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The Central Florida industrial market concluded the first half of 2011 on an optimistic note.

Companies and funds reported raising $35.48 billion from investors in the second quarter for real estate-related deals and refinancings.

The amount of funding raised brings the total inflow for the first six months of the year to more than $66.43 billion from approximately 1,075 funds and firms. It took nine months to raise the same amount last year.

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