Tempered Optimism
Count Avison Young CEO Mark Rose among those who feel more confident than in 2013. Mark says that despite the "mountain" of debt and equity that is available, "interest rates have only one way to go—up." A REALpac/FPL Canadian Real Estate Sentiment Survey for Q1' 14 has been released, measuring senior executives' confidence in the Canadian commercial real estate: overall real estate conditions, access to capital markets, and asset pricing.
Mark sent us this pic from MIPIM in Cannes, France this week; he's here with AY president of US operations Earl Webb and European investment manager Udo Stoeckl. Overall, a rise in interest rates will cause some anxious moments, "but a correction is ultimately very healthy... there should always be a certain amount of anxiety when operating in the real estate marketplace." (Up or down market, always invest in heartburn relief.) Canada is stable, but hovering at "frothy pricing levels." He says that fundamentals also support an "upward bias" as GDP growth, employment growth, and consumer sentiment remains positive.
