Charles Bissell, New York City-based Integra Realty Resources' managing director in Dallas, believes the "wait- and-see attitude" that some clients have adopted could prevail for a few more months. But soon, the famous Texas "entrepreneurial spirit will kick back in," he says.
Rumor has it that a number of large deals pending in the region were tabled after the Sept. 11 attacks. Several of those deals could be revived as the fourth quarter plays out. The best advice, Bissell says, "is to carry on business as usual. It's really what every American needs to do." He has noticed clients are more talkative and far more patient since Sept. 11.
Several brokerage and research firms say third-quarter reports will start to roll out this week. In an early call as to how the DFW region fared, the Dallas director of the independent market watcher's team believes it will take six to 12 months to get back to where the region was functioning prior to the attacks. "But, most parts of the real estate market have geared back up," he reports.
From all indications and most market watchers, the DFW hotel market could take two to three years to recover from all of 2001's economic setbacks. The same is true for office rent growth. But, emphasizes Bissell, both sectors were strapped prior to Sept. 11.
Jobs are still being created, product is still coming out of the ground (except for hotels) and REITs are once again back into the market, Bissell says. And the "old stalwart," the industrial sector, is "still chugging along." Lenders too have come off the sidelines and onto the playing field as interest rate cuts swell the ranks of property owners looking to refinance.
The slowdown is "not the kind of economic doldrums we were in during the late 1980s and early 1990s," Bissell says, likening it more to the latter stages of that recovery period. "There's going to be winners and losers certainly."
Pension funds will continue buying DFW multifamily properties, by far the hottest ticket for 2001. Bissell predicts the acquisition pace will slow down from its hardy pace in the first nine months, simply a normal reaction to the stock market. Still, says Bissell, the buys will come even though the Dow Jones average has sunk far below the 10,000 mark.
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