WASHINGTON, DC-The Urban Land Institute’ssecond semi-annual survey of real estateeconomists for 2012 was less optimistic about the industry’sprospects than the previous study. That said, many of the metricsexamined in a wider context (read–compared to 2009) show that theindustry is relatively on solid ground.

All in all, the report projected a continued improvement for theUS economy and housing market, Dean Schwankeexecutive director of ULI Center for CapitalMarkets, told listeners in a webinar today during whichULI unveiled the results. “However, predictions diverged from theprevious survey in that people are less optimistic regarding theeconomy and more optimistic regarding single-family homes.”

Perhaps the most startling sign of decreased confidence was theprojection that commercial property transactionvolume is expected to increase by 21%—the projection inthe spring, by contrast, was for a 50% increase. For 2013, theconsensus forecast is that commercial real estate transactionvolume will reach $250 billion.