The Office Buyer Pool Is Shrinking

The investment panel at Allen Matkins View from the Top discussed the shrinking buyer pool.

LOS ANGELES—The office buyer pool is shrinking, according to investment sales experts at the ninth annual Allen Matkins View from the Top conference. Four experts—David Lapidus, managing director of acquisitions and development at Tishman Speyer; Devin Peterson, principal of real estate at the Blackstone Group; James Rodgers, EVP and head of acquisitions at KBS Capital Advisors; Kevin Shannon, president of West Coast capital markets at NGKF and moderator Tony Natsis of Allen Matkins—discussed the current investment sales climate and the shift in confidence that they are seeing this late in the cycle.

“The buyer pool is down dramatically. The difference between haves and have-nots is greater,” Shannon said on the panel. “If you have a deal in Playa Vista under $250, there is a huge buyer pool. But, for most of what we are selling, it is hand-to-hand combat. The bidding is thin is that we are in the 85^th month of the recovery; so, people are worried something is going to happen. This is a long recovery, and there have only been four recoveries that have gone this long.”