“NAI was the top choice for our company as it delivers an expansive global platform while letting us retain our local decision making, which is key for our Mississippi clients,” said Lenwood Sawyer, Jr., Principal of NAI Sawyer. “We are truly excited about joining an organization that provides a structure for networking with our peers in other markets, as that helps us achieve another piece of our strategic plan for growth.”

David Blanchard, Executive Vice President of NAI Global, worked with Principals Lenwood and Earline Sawyer on the new partnership and added, “Rarely do you find a firm with people so dedicated to their community and clients. Our commitment to provide superior services is in good hands with Lenny, Earline and their excellent team of commercial real estate professionals. They are progressive, client-driven and dedicated, not only the Gulfport, but to the region around them. It is time to accelerate our pace on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. NAI Sawyer will do just that.”

“Our clients are the primary beneficiaries of this opportunity, “added Sawyer.” With the enhanced services available through NAI, we will clearly be better positioned to serve our clients and grow our business.”

In addition to securing south Mississippi, NAI Sawyer’s primary area of service includes the Mississippi Gulf Coast and northward into the rich agricultural lands. Their marketplace diversity takes the flurry of one of the Gulf South’s busiest commercial seaports, the second largest casino destination in the country, one of the largest ship building industries in the nation as well as the booming hospitality industry.

About NAI Sawyer and NAI Global (www.naiglobal.com)
NAI Sawyer is one of the largest full-service commercial real estate firms in Mississippi. Founded in 1901 and headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi, NAI Sawyer provides a broad array of commercial real estate services, including brokerage, site selection, consulting, market feasibility studies, forecasting and tenant representation throughout the Mississippi Gulf Coast and northward.

NAI Global is an international real estate services organization with the institutional strength of one of the world’s leading property investment companies. Our experts are strategic and innovative, working collaboratively to realize maximum potential and generate creative solutions for our clients worldwide. Our collaborative services platform provides an expansive, yet nimble and responsive structure enabling us to efficiently deliver superior results.

Founded in 2006 to fulfill the unmet need of providing dedicated commercial property solutions in the region, NAI Mountain Commercial is the only full-service commercial real estate firm from Summit to Pitkin County. The firm is the leading regional provider of acquisition, disposition, leasing, tenant representation, property management and asset management services. NAI Mountain Commercial provides services for all types of commercial real estate assets including office, retail, industrial, hospitality, multi-family and mixed-use properties and works with many of the region’s largest owners and investors of commercial real estate.

“By joining NAI, we are gaining the capabilities and resources of a global leader, while simultaneously retaining our excellent team, local knowledge and market presence” stated NAI Mountain Commercial President Michael Pearson. “NAI gives us new technology, tools, shared resources, marketing, and access to over 350 offices worldwide, which will enable us to develop new opportunities for clients looking for extensive representation or international resources.

“NAI Global is very proud to add Vail’s premier commercial real estate service provider to our growing network,” said NAI Global Executive Vice President David Blanchard. “Mike and his team have done an incredible job of building NAI Mountain Commercial into the market leader in every sense of the word.  NAI Mountain Commercial will be an invaluable resource to NAI clients around the world seeking investment, growth and disposition services throughout the entire Resort Market region.”

NAI Mountain Commercial (www.naimountain.com / +1 970 476 6415) is located at 953 South Frontage Road, Suite#219, Vail, Colorado 81657. Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, NAI Global manages a network of 350 offices and 5,000 professionals in 55 countries around the world.

That big money is being deployed to acquire and expand existing platforms is a clear sign that the commercial real estate market is in the early stages of recovery. Key metrics show both sales and leasing volume are up and in the major markets both rental rates and asset prices have recovered sharply for core assets. But there is a long way to go for secondary markets and non-core assets. As commercial real estate climbs out of the depths of the credit crisis, industry leaders are now looking to expand their depth and breadth of coverage in order to capitalize on opportunities.

There is little doubt that the big will get bigger and more consolidation will follow. The real question remains “how best to provide service?”  Is it through a large corporate bureaucracy, best-in-class local providers or some combination that provides the requisite global infrastructure, quality control and support with the best local talent and client-centric approach? Clearly some of the recent M&A activity is following familiar strategic patterns, while others are dramatic course changes.

Over the past 40 years the commercial real estate industry has grown from a local business to a global industry with each economic cycle accelerating the transformation. Now more than ever global resources and reach are critical to serve commercial real estate clients at the local level. The trick is to be able to deliver local service at the global level. Finding the balance between entrepreneurial local market expertise and the institutional strength of a global company is the key to optimizing global real estate services. In the quest for scale and market share, the customer is often lost.

As the largest global managed network of commercial real estate firms we are committed to be a driver and leader in this industry transformation, evolving to serve the ever growing needs of our clients without sacrificing the local touch and customer care we have been known for.

Located in Mumbai, India, NAI Sure Shot Suggestions is a full-service commercial real estate firm formed in 1992 by Sanjay Puri. The firm is a leading provider of real estate services to many local Indian corporations and investors and is renowned for its work on behalf of many multi-national corporations including Amway, Barclays, Citibank, Orange, Schlumberger, Sony and Standard Chartered.

“Through our partnership with NAI Global, we are now able to provide real estate services to our clients beyond Mumbai with the high standards of service we have established in the Greater Mumbai market.” stated Sanjay Puri, NAI Sure Shot Suggestions’ Managing Director. “Through our new partnership with NAI Global, we will have access to new resources and technology to better serve both our local and international clients.”

“As India’s economy continues to expand, it is playing an increasingly important role in global trade. It’s vital for NAI to have a strong presence in India’s capital,” said NAI Global President & CEO Jeffrey M. Finn. “With the addition of NAI Sure Shot Suggestions, NAI now has a well-established partner to provide local knowledge, relationships and skills to our corporate and investor clients with interests in Mumbai and throughout India.”

NAI Sure Shot Suggestions ( India ) Pvt. Ltd. is located at 2A, Gomes Society, Gr. Flr., TPS-III, 4th Road, Santacruz (East) Mumbai 400 055, India.

“NAI Global’s performance demonstrates the strength and depth of our organization throughout the United States,” said Jeffrey M. Finn, NAI Global’s President and Chief Executive Officer. ”This impressive showing confirms NAI Global’s leadership position and illustrates the capabilities of our professionals to provide best-in-class local market knowledge and real estate services in every market that we operate in. We are proud of our continued strong performance and appreciate the recognition of a leading independent organization like CoStar.”
CoStar Group tracks data on commercial properties and transactions throughout the U.S., U.K. and France. The Power Broker Awards are presented annually to the top brokerage firms and individual agents in major U.S. markets based on their leasing and sales transaction activities the prior year. The complete list of NAI member firms and agents receiving honors is available at http://www.costar.com/specialprograms/powerbrokers.aspx.

So, what has occurred since then? What sectors are hot?

From February 2009 to June 2010, 102 multi family properties were sold at auction and the variance between asking and sell price was 90%. From July 2010 to April 2011, the variance was 82%. More sales occurred however, with 132 multi-family properties with a total value of over $2 Billion sold at auction in just a ten month period.

The number of office properties sold at auction increased significantly. While only 108 office properties sold at auction during the February 2009 to June 2010 timeframe, the number increased to 202 sold during the recent ten month timeframe. The total dollar volume was just over $1 Billion. During the earlier period, the variance between asking and sell price was 75%. The gap closed during the most recent period, with average asking versus average sell at 99%. The data suggests that the overall average does not reflect steady monthly occurrences but rather sharp peaks with average sales prices surging in some months and dropping in others.

Industrial/flex property auction sales are up as well. Last year, when we compared half year 2010 sales to 2009 sales, we found a ten percent increase in number of transactions brought to market. During the entire earlier period, 132 industrial/flex properties sold at auction and average asking price to average sales price was 65%. When we look at just a recent 10 month period, the number jumps to 174 industrial/flex properties valued at just over $300 Million traded at auction. Prices during the earlier period were becoming more aligned and have continued. The former data showed a slight increase in the variance between asking and sell price, or 67%. Of interest is that the gap has narrowed in the most recent 10 month period with average asking to sell prices showing a variance of just 81%.

Retail property auction sales are also up. Retail properties being offered for auction dropped by more than 40% during the first half of 2010 as compared to the last six months of 2009 and were 20% less than the first half of 2009. During a 17 month period, 341 retail properties sold at auction and the variance between asking and sell prices at 70%. More consistency is found over the recent 10 month period when 299 retail properties with a total value of $1.1 Billion were sold at auction. We witness sharp peaks with high average selling prices surging in some months and dropping in others, with overall “average prices” suggesting a gap of just 1% or a variance of 99% when comparing average asking to sell prices.

While we had not considered land sales at auction last year, there were 191 transactions with a total value of over $1 Billion during the July 2010 to April 2011 timeframe. Average sell prices were 65% of average asking prices.

NAI Global has also witnessed increased interest in auction sales, with greater activity in sealed bid PowerSale, live and online auctions programs over the same period.

To learn more about NAI Global’s accelerated marketing program, visit www.naiglobal.com/powersale, or contact Patricia Faulkner at pfaulkner@naiglobal.com.

US Hedge Fund York Capital Management are reported to have paid £97.50 per sq ft for offices at 23 Savile Row.

The wags delighting in pointing out that equates to almost twice the price per sq ft of a suit from a respectable tailor on the famous street.

On the one hand we see increasing confidence in the London property market in both the West End and in the City of London, where “headline” rents are approaching £55 per sq ft. And yet on the other hand in the general economy our “Governor” predicts that inflation will hit 5% this year and continue to remain higher than the Bank’s 2 % target. All of this is leading to a reduction in the UK’s current annual growth forecast from 3.1% to 2.8%.

Once again we are provided with evidence that the UK “runs” a two-tier economy: London and the South East and then the “regions”. Fine if you live and work in “the south” but not so good if you are elsewhere in the Country when the price of a Savile Row suit will continue to be well beyond your means.

We can only hope that, in the face of inflationary pressures that UK  interest rates remain at 0.5% for as long as possible for the effects of the recovery to spread out to our UK regions.

Meanwhile most of us will continue to shop at either Marks & Spencer or visit the “mother ship” John Lewis!

“How is it possible to have 25% increases in healthcare costs, which account for roughly 17% of GDP, and not have serious inflation?” said Dr. Linneman. “As inflation takes hold, generations that have never witnessed inflation will experience its destructive power. It is essential that [investors] are aware of the damage that inflation can wreak on [their] net investment position.”

The white paper analyzes the impact that inflation will have on commercial real estate, forecasts the direction of interest rates and provides investment and financing strategies for property owners seeking to shield themselves from inflation’s destructive power.

Beware of Inflation assesses the potential destructive power of inflation and its impact on commercial real estate.

This latest white paper follows A Disastrous Decade, Dr. Linneman’s scorecard for the 10 years from mid-2000 through mid-2010, reviewing how the economy has changed over the first decade of the 21^st century. NAI Global’s white papers and research resources are available for free download at www.naiglobal.com under Publications/Articles & White Papers.

One of the most critical aspects of any sale transaction is to accurately assess the certainty of closing with specific buyers.  The most proficient seller or seller’s broker should personally interview each offeror and buyer’s broker (if so represented) and should request a description of their company, internal approval authority and process, and source of funds and track record over the past several years (including whether they have purchased any property in the last 24 months).  In addition, you should request a list of at least two references from unrelated sellers, who the buyers have previously purchased investment or user properties from in order to ascertain whether or not they have re-traded the price following due diligence.

Armed with the above information, you (or your broker) should then compile a comprehensive spreadsheet, comparing the offering terms and the results of your investigations.  Based on your due diligence and the recommendations of your trusted consultants, develop your best choice for a limited secondary field of offerors.  Once you have made a decision as to whom to move forward with, request a “best and final” bid by a definite date.

Upon selecting the final bidder, try to keep those quality offerors who were not selected in a fallback position, so that, should the chosen buyer decide not to move forward for any reason, you can move on to the next most likely candidate without having to return to the market.

However, achieving that ideal has been elusive because there is an inherent conflict between debt and equity brokers.  Simply said, the equity broker is programmed to seek a sale of the asset from the client while the debt broker would rather that the client refinances that very same asset.  What is lacking here is a protocol that is in the best interest of the client which is identified before the debt and equity brokers begin selling their services. 

Integrating debt and equity brokers has been a challenge in our industry for years.  When compensation is tied directly to a capital event such as a sale or a refinance how can the true needs of the client be foremost in the brokers’ minds?  This inherent conflict continues to be a challenge in most brokerage houses to this day.  The goal of integrating the debt and equity brokerage disciplines can be compared to finding the Holy Grail – a never-ending search. 

The solution to this challenge does not lie in how fees are shared and does not lie solely in the hands of the client.  Often the client does not know the solution and is seeking advice in a conflicted environment.  The solution lies in the integration of the thinking between the debt and equity brokers themselves. 

The better the members of a capital markets team know each other, the better the communication – which leads to minimizing conflicts.  Often a joint call to determine the needs of the client results in the client’s satisfaction with the advice received and a broker-to-broker determination of how fees will be shared.  This can only work if the brokers know and respect each other and realize that both of them are in this business for the long term – AND THAT THE CLIENT COMES FIRST. 

Those who manage debt and equity brokers cannot underestimate the value of team interaction.  The same value that is put on a broker/client relationship needs to be put on the equity/debt brokers’ relationship. 

Fostering this type of camaraderie is just good business.