CHICAGO – Feb. 8, 2013 – Frustrated by continued uncertainty, a sluggish recovery and a challenging investment setting, investors generally appear eager to put the past behind them and adjust to the new normal.

A new annual report – “Expectations & Market Realities in Real Estate 2013 - Turn the Page” – published by Real Estate Research Corporation (RERC), Deloitte and the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) explores current investor attitudes.

According to the report, investors seem to realize that the current environment could be with us for the foreseeable future, and that adjustments may need to be made to maximize commercial real estate investment performance and yield in a slow-growth economy.

The economy is expected to improve only modestly in 2013, with the budget deficit, tax increases and cuts in government spending expected to continue the economic uncertainty.

“It is time to stop waiting for the economy and the investment environment to get better. This is it – this is the new normal – and we need to turn the page on the past and make the adjustments needed to be successful for the balance of this decade,” says Kenneth Riggs, Jr., chairman and president of RERC. “Investors are facing the challenges ahead and commercial real estate continues to be an attractive investment for a variety of reasons in this economic climate.”

“Moderate positive and stabilizing trends in commercial real estate markets are expected to add value to institutional portfolios as we turn the page to the next chapter of the real estate cycle,” notes Matthew Kimmel, principal and U.S. real estate sector leader for Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP. “Overall, the office, industrial, retail, apartment and hotel property sectors are expected to experience various elements of slow fundamental increase and growth.”

The group expects the commercial real estate recovery to continue throughout 2013.

“A pent-up demand for commercial property space has been developing with the nearly 5 million net new job creations in the past three years,” says Lawrence Yun, Ph.D., NAR chief economist. “That demand steadily reaching the market, combined with little new construction, will likely help lower vacancy rates and push up rents.”

© 2013 Florida Realtors®