Commercial Real Estate Week in Review

Week in Review for January 7 – 13:

-Some experts favor student-housing and data center REITs for investment

-Competition between Lehman Brothers (LEHMQ) and Equity Residential (EQR) for control of Archstone continues

-Parkway Properties REIT (PKY) to sell non-core portfolio for $147.5 million, with the sale expected to be finalized this quarter

-In other Equity Residential news, the firm recently sold a 432-unit apartment complex in Virginia–for $68.7 million–to a New York-based firm representing a pension fund

-Wall Street Banks predict CMBS values will stabilize this year, with the possibility that $45 billion in securities will be issued in 2012

-Three real estate firms–Armour Residential REIT (ARR), Sun Communities (SUI), and Terreno Realty (TRNO)–plan to offer common stock.

-Self-storage REITs enjoy another year of record profits

-Fed says most parts of U.S. economy are improving–with the exception of housing. Others predict 2012 will see an improvement in single-family.

#CRE #finance #economy