CHICAGO-Being optimistic about commercial real estate resurgence is easier than expected, according to Jones Lang LaSalle in its recent first quarter Global Market Perspective. Many countries are anticipating the strongest real estate trading and performance since 2007, and JLL expects investment volumes to rise by up to 25% this year.

The global growth would be only half of 2010’s 50% growth from 2009, but then again, 2009 was a pretty deep hole, says Josh Gelormini, VP of research for the company. “We’re projecting that the Americas will see about 40% growth in investment volume, about $135 billion for 2011. The pace in Europe and Asia-Pacific will slow down a bit, just because the growth on a percentage basis has been quite strong already.”

The Americas, particularly the United States office market, is catching up to the tier one cities such as Hong Kong and London. Part of the interest is that there’s not much of a development pipeline in the US markets, which will push up demand for good properties and lower vacancy. The United States leads the world in having the smallest pipeline, and regions with large projects under development, such as Dubai and Moscow, are expected to take quite a bit more time to recover and gain traction, Gelormini says.

According to the report, for the first time since the crisis, downside risks are being outweighed by investors by the upside risks of improving business optimism and spending, and more hiring. “The global economy appears to have finally moved into a more sustainable growth phase,” Gelormini says. However, investors will still monitor various setback risks, such as government deficits and bailouts in Europe, or the current troubles in the Middle East. The only solid bet is on China, which despite its recent moves to prevent overheating, will remain the world’s fastest growing large economy, with a projected growth of about 9.5%, according to the report.