Real
Capital Analytics (RCA) Global Capital Trends: 2012 Year in Review
On February 19, 2013, RCA published their Global Capital Trends: 2012
Year in Review. With RCA’s kind
permission I offer the following excerpts taken directly from the report:
- The apartment sector was a standout amongst property types, particularly in the U.S. and Europe.
- Cross-border capital remains keenly focused on the largest, most liquid markets where pricing for trophy properties has diverted from the ordinary.
- Office properties in London are far and away the most actively traded and most favored targets of property investors.
- New York City, London and Tokyo remained at the top of the most active list. However, Paris dropped from 4th place in 2011 to 6th place in 2012 as Los Angeles advanced up a notch and San Francisco moved into the top 5.
- Office markets across Europe accounted for 44% of all transaction volume in 2012. 60% of office transactions took place in just six cities – London, Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Stockholm.
This report reinforces the theme that many investors are simply looking for
the safety of reliable cash flow. Maybe the analysis of investment
opportunities today is as fundamental as “a bird in the hand is worth two in
the bush.” What are your thoughts on
this? Send me a note and I’ll post the
feedback (without attribution) next week to get a better sense of the
investment climate.
PREA /
IPD Index Launch
A star-studded audience of 200+ commercial real estate professionals filled
a meeting room in New York City on February 21, 2013 for the IPD (Investment
Property Databank) U.S. Real Estate Investment Forum. The celebrity of the day however was not a person,
but rather an index. The launch of the
Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) / IPD U.S. Property Fund Index is
notable with some very large funds already participating. Adoption will be the
key. The industry will be watching to see which institutional investors begin to
benchmark to this new index vs. indices they have historically used. I salute the birth of this new index as it gives
pension funds an additional tool to make better-informed investment decisions.
Contagious Happiness
The other day I had lunch with a long-time industry friend. Not having seen each other for some time we
were eager to catch up over our Soba noodles. Later that day I got an email
from her. “I can't tell you how happy
it made me feel to see you so happy - it is contagious.” The reason I chose to mention this is not to
brag about how happy I am (which I am :). Rather to bring up the point that energy is
contagious. If we surround ourselves with positive thinking and acting people great
things can happen. Believe me, I know the difference.
The Journal of Sustainable Real Estate
The website for this publication has recently been updated. Edited by
University of San Diego professor, Norm Miller, the Journal seeks to become the
definitive resource for information and dialogue on the important subject of real
estate sustainability. After all, what
matters more than the future of the earth?
Norm is looking forward to hearing from potential contributors. You can reach him here.
The
Way Things Work
There’s a wonderful little book that contains some big messages. In The Tao of Pooh the author, Benjamin
Hoff, explains the principles of Taoism through Winnie the Pooh - the main
character in A.A. Milne’s classic of the same name.
While not a practicing Taoist, I subscribe to quite a bit of what Mr.
Hoff has written. Early in the book he
describes a phenomenon called The Way
Things Work, aka The Pooh Way. Later in the book, he offers this:
“Those who do things by The Pooh
Way find this sort of thing happening to them all the time. It’s hard to explain, except by example, but
it works. Things just happen in the right way, at the right time. At least they do when you let them, when you work with circumstances instead of saying,
‘This isn’t supposed to be happening this way,’ and trying hard to make it
happen some other way. If you’re in tune
with The Way Things Work then they
work the way they need to, no matter what you may think about it at the time.
Later on, you can look back and say, ‘Oh, now I understand. That had to happen so that those things could happen, and those had
to happen in order for this to
happen…’ Then you realize that even if you’d tried to make it all turn out
perfectly, you couldn’t have done better, and if you’d really tried, you would have made a mess of the whole thing.”
It’s not easy to just let things be…But, when given a chance, I find that
it works. Does it work in business too? In my career the times when I let
things play out, without trying to force them, they simply worked out. It takes
courage. It takes faith in the power of
the universe and in mankind. Maybe it’s
worth a try?
Restaurant
of the week
the shop (yes,
that’s the actual name of the restaurant)
485 5th
Avenue (at 41st Street)
New York, NY
Discreetly part of the Andaz Hotel, this is a place you could walk by
many times and never realize it is there (trust me, I did).
On The Road…
Mar. 14-15: PREA (Pension Real
Estate Association) Spring Conference, Washington, DC
Mar. 17 -19: NAREIM (National
Association of Real Estate Investment Managers) Spring CEO Meeting, Santa
Monica, CA
Apr. 9 -10: PERE (Private Equity
Real Estate Magazine) Global Investor Forum, Los Angeles, CA
Apr. 28 – May 1: CRE (Counselors
of Real Estate) Mid-Year Meetings, New York, NY (To include a jam session with
the CRE Rock ‘n Roll band, Sound Counsel).
May 29 – 30: IMN (Information
Management Network) U.S. Real Estate Opportunity Fund and Private Fund
Investing Forum, New York, NY.
June 4 – 5: PERE Summit (Private
Equity Real Estate Magazine), London, UK
Disclaimer
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and graphics is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club,
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fact or absolute. Steve Felix will hold himself harmless for any
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