Commercial Investment Real Estate is the magazine of the CCIM Institute, the leading provider of commercial real estate education. CIRE covers market trends, current developments, and business strategies within the commercial real estate field.
Issue link: http://cire.epubxp.com/i/102789
New Optimism AN IMPROVING MARKET New employment opportunities are returning and companies are hiring again. Professional and business services added 51,000 jobs in October 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since September 2009, employment in the sector has expanded by 1.6 million, or by an average of 44,000 jobs per month as of October 2012. Sentiment regarding hiring and new job opportunities in the real estate sector is also beginning to swing in a more positive direction. The commercial real estate job market saw steady improvement in 2012, with job postings up 32 percent over 2011 at the end of third quarter 2012, according to the Cornell/ SelectLeaders Job Barometer. Job opportunities in the retail and multifamily sectors grew by 22 percent and 15 percent respectively, while office grew by 9.4 percent. Based on job postings, property management, asset/portfolio management, and accounting/control were the top three job functions, accounting for 30 percent of all postings. Acquisition/disposition job offers grew a little more than 5 percent from 2011 to 2012, while brokerage and leasing job offers declined slightly, indicating the still-recovering state of the real estate market. "There are pockets of hiring happening, and lots of encouraging signs that we are all grasping. But, in all honesty, I think the recovery will remain slow through the next year," says Katie M. Becker, a managing principal at Christenson Advisors in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. "Even as the market recovers, companies are savvier and they are being cautious with their hiring so they don't bulk up too much and have to go through the layoffs again. So the mantra that we are seeing is that companies are pushing employees to do more with less." ANNUAL PERCENTAGE GROWTH IN CRE JOB POSTINGS SECTOR 2010 2011 2012 Multifamily 12.3 14.0 14.8 Retail 18.0 20.9 22.0 Office 7.5 8.1 9.4 Source: Cornell/Select Leaders Job Barometer Tere is no doubt that the past three years have been extremely challenging for commercial real estate professionals across the board. Te industry saw very limited hiring. "Tere were certainly job changes, but it was more reactive — kind of like a game of musical chairs," says Paige Palmer, CCIM, CPM, RPA, an executive search partner at Search Professionals International in Plano, Texas. "Tere were not many job opportunities out there. You just had to try to f nd a seat, even if it was not the right seat." 40 January | February | 2013 Given the number of people who are still unemployed or underemployed, it is still very much an employer's market. Even industry veterans were displaced during the downturn, as transaction activity ground to halt and companies were forced to cut back on stafng to run more efciently. "People would have been more tempted to move out of the commercial real estate industry and change jobs if there was somewhere to go. But, in this particular recession, there was really no place to go because other industries were sufering as well," Palmer adds. Hiring gained momentum in the second half of 2012. In particular, activity has picked up on the East and West Coasts and is now expanding into other markets in the rest of the country, notes Palmer. "Tere is not any one area that is really hot. We are seeing a wide range of opportunities, which is a good thing," she says. New hiring in transaction-related positions such as leasing, acquisitions, and development have been virtually nonexistent in recent years. But even those positions are starting to return. "Tere might not be many, but they are coming back," adds Palmer. Greenville, S.C., is one market where hiring has returned along with improvement in the commercial real estate sector. "As the market continues to heal and as fnancing becomes more and more available for projects, you will see more new brokers getting into the business," says Brian Young, CCIM, SIOR, senior vice president, managing broker at Cushman & Wakefeld/Talhimer in Greenville. "I think you will also see more brokers that weren't making it over the last two to three years start to make money again and be rewarded for having stayed in the business." As part of its ongoing expansion in the Mid-Atlantic, Richmond-based C&W;/Talhimer acquired the South Carolina frm of Coppedge & Tison in February 2012 and established ofces in both Greenville and Charleston. In June 2012, Young was hired to serve as broker in charge of the new C&W;/ Talhimer ofce in Greenville. His main focus is growing the brand in Greenville, recruiting new brokers, and pursuing corporate business. C&W;/Talhimer hired three new brokers during 3Q12, and Young hopes to grow the team of fve brokers to eight or nine by the end of 2013. He also expects to add support staf and recruit a summer intern. "We are looking for retail and ofce brokers, in particular, to help us execute on new business opportunities," says Young. "We are also considering hiring junior-level brokers who would work on a team with senior brokers Commercial Investment Real Estate