TEANECK, NJ-Where there is uncertainty there is opportunity,advised Mitchell E. Hersh, president and CEO of Mack-Cali RealtyCorp., during the featured “Inside the Real Estate Mind”presentation at RealShare New Jersey here yesterday. And thatadvice indeed comes against a backdrop of uncertainty.

For example, “what we're seeing in the housing market for thefirst time in decades is deflation,” Hersh told interviewer MichaelG. Desiato, VP of Real Estate Media Division of ALM, and theevent's more than 650 attendees. “The excess inventory and creationof subset markets have created a loss of value in housing. Thatsubset is facing the inability to move product and is competingwith national homebuilders and public companies, and that's puttingpressure on the industry.

“And we're losing employment in the financial services,” addedHersh, which creates a need for the Federal Reserve “to stimulatethe economy. The question remains whether they can ward offinflation while simultaneously protecting the financial markets.The jury is out. When a deflationary environment exists, it changespsychology.”