Decade Answers: Josh Goldflam

Josh Goldflam is a managing principal at Highcap Group, New York, N.Y. What are your predictions for commercial real estate in the new decade? I believe that the first few years of this decade will consist of regular reassessment of property values as we bottom out of the cycle. There will be a continuation of property deleveraging and market rent adjustments, and maybe forced to sell based on notes coming due that cannot be refinanced at the same LTV or net operating income declining lower than the property's debt service. These resulting sales will help determine values moving forward which I believe will continue to rise slowly into the middle years of this decade. Also, many bank owned and foreclosed real estate will finally make its way through the pipelines in the next 1-2 years so all the money on the sidelines can jump back into the game.