As interim CEO Gary Hunt commented during the company'searnings conference call yesterday, the company is operating in"one of the weakest transaction markets in decades," a fact that isreflected in the declining Grubb & Ellis revenues in thatcategory. Hunt also noted that first-quarter vacancy ratesincreased in all four main property types in the firstquarter--office, industrial, retail and multifamily--while "Driversof demand for each property type all weakened in response to therecession."

Looking forward, Hunt said that although some of the stockmarket's recent rallies were encouraging, and although someeconomists are saying that the recession could end late this year,no viable signs of recovery are visible in the commercial realestate markets yet."We are not counting on any short-term relief,"the Grubb & Ellis interim CEO said.

In its tally of the effect of the recession and other factors ontransaction services, Grubb & Ellis reported that transactionservices revenue for the fourth quarter of 2008, for example,dropped to $67.1 million, compared with $93.6 million for the sameperiod in the previous year. For the full year, the transactionservices revenue slid to $240.3 million, compared with $312.3million for 2007.