Radu Lucianu, managing partner of CB Richard Ellis Eurisko real estate consultancy, ranking second on the market, considers the pressure built on the market in the past year, in which the number of real estate deals has been low, is weighing both on the shoulders of owners, who have not sold, and of investors, who've kept their money in banks or in other placements during this period. "There still are funds with money, the ones that sold properties in 2007 or German pension funds, as well as domestic businesspeople having access to cash. There's pressure on people with money, too, because it needs to circulate, but there's also the fear to use it. It's safer, or not, to keep money in banks, but interests are much smaller compared with the returns one can get from real estate," Lucianu says.
However, major investment funds' offers are way below developers' expectations, according to Lucianu, and the shortage of deals is also making accurate valuations of properties more difficult.
"Everybody wants to see blood on the walls, but not all developers are desperate. The hardship is felt by those who took big risks at high prices, without having money and resorted to loans. People saying they have lost no money in real estate are lying," Lucianu says, arguing that even companies with no debts that have kept office or commercial spaces rented, at the same rent levels, are seeing losses amid falling yields. As for the housing market, Lucianu says the population's decision to postpone a possible acquisition is prompted, beside the lack of financing, by panic.
Real estate problems are hurting consultancies, as well. At CBRE, one out of three employees has left the firm in the past year.
"We are now 80 employees, after we were 125 at a certain moment. We will no longer raise wages, but we'll offer bonuses instead," Lucianu says.
Real estate consultants have been, during boom years, some of the best-paid employees in services, with fees topping several hundred thousand euros for those involved in the biggest deals on the market.
CBRE Eurisko in 2007 posted turnover worth 14.4m euros, with 2008 figures to be announced after the parent company, CB Richard Ellis, reports financial results on the New York exchange.
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