"I've been in the business for 31 years. I was here with Edward S. Gordon and when this company became Insignia/ESG. I have been through several cycles," he explains. "I think people are afraid; that's the bottom line. They're still feeling the dot-com earthquake. This is, however, completely different than the last down cycle. Here we've had a bubble that burst and we're seeing the aftershocks."

The most dramatic change in the market from last year to this Emden says is in the number of sublease deals seen now. "Subleasing is out of control," he notes. "The sublease situation is the most difficult aspect of the market situation right now. We're beginning to see more sublease competition, but in the long run that's healthy. This is a correction that will stabilize the market and be good going forward beyond this summer, the third quarter and the fourth quarter."

He does say that concessions are being seen in increasing numbers and that prices are down. "The only thing for brokers to do now is stay tuned," he advises. "We certainly have seen a drop in pricing across the board. In broad terms prices have gone down about 10% to 15%. Concessions are beginning to increase and we're seeing owners having to give away a little more. We're seeing concessions even in sublease deals. For example, in a recent sublease deal the sublease tenant was granted free rent versus a cash consideration. Owners and those seeking to sublease their space will have to be a little more creative going forward."