By Rick Gold, Senior EVP, Branch Manager

If the activity we are seeing in our West Los Angeles office is any indication, the market is certainly a lot better than what we read in the papers or hear on the streets.   It appears that tenants and buyers have come to the realization that the market may have hit bottom and if they don’t react now they may be left on the sidelines wondering where all the good deals have gone.

If you are a lessee, you may be wondering if you are still in the driver’s seat.  The answer may still be yes, but that seat-belt is being squeezed a little bit tighter when it comes to concessions landlords are making.  Rents have stabilized, and while I don’t think we are going to see any dramatic spikes in the near future, I am witnessing a decline in offers of free rent — certainly less than I was seeing six months ago.   I’ve also noticed that owners are no longer rushing into deals as they exercise patience waiting for the right tenant who will pay closer to the asking rent.

It appears we are seeing the same mentality in the investment market. As capital markets have started coming back, we have seen an increase in investment deals — many of which garner multiple offers on properties with short contingency periods and shorter escrows.

Our West Los Angeles office has seen more sales close in the past few months than we saw during the previous few years.   In fact, within the span of 8 days, one broker in our office closed four deals with a total value in excess of $10,000,000.

Barring any unforeseen occurrences and if the price of oil does not set the economy back, I’m inclined to say that 2011 is on its way to being a very good year for commercial real estate.