WHAT'S YOUR 2008 INVESTMENT WORD?

If numbers can be believed, this industry isn't flinching.We asked our readers a year ago to characterize their investmentstrategies for the coming year. And we asked them again last week.A year ago, 51% said Buy, and 27% said Hold. Some 22% were planningto Sell. Today, the numbers have shifted little, and the percentscome in at 54, 34 and 12, respectively, with Sell taking thebiggest hit and more respondents shifting to a Hold position. Wetalked with Commentator Earl E. Webb, CEO of capital markets atJones Lang LaSalle, before the survey launched, but he predictedthe directions with a good degree of accuracy. And then he went onto justify his predictions:

"If I were to guess, I would predict that 40% would say Buy, 40%Hold and maybe 20% Sell. But my word for 2008 is rationalize. IfI'm a perspective buyer, I must rationalize the fact that I need tobuy as the debt markets allow me to buy. If I am a seller, I needto rationalize the fact that financing for the buyers of myproperties is now constrained relative to where it was a year ago.That'll impact pricing for the foreseeable future. If I'm an ownerand I bought at or near the top of the curve, I'm probably going tobe a holder.