Commercial property values rose slightly in January, report says

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Commercial landlords got a little sunshine Tuesday when a prominent research firm told them that their property values ticked up 1% in January and are up more than 10% since the middle of last year.

The uptick was reported by Green Street Advisors Inc., a Newport Beach research, trading and consulting firm that concentrates on real estate investment trusts and other publicly traded real estate securities.

Sales volume remains very low, said Mike Kirby, Green Street’s director of research.

‘The good news is that pricing has been firming since the middle of ’09, especially in the last four months,’ Kirby said. ‘Sellers are feeling less pressure to act, the outlook for fundamentals has become clearer and well-capitalized buyers are becoming plentiful. The bad news is that pricing is still far below the levels that prevailed from ’05 through ’07.”

Values of commercial properties such as offices, warehouses, malls and apartments are down 32% from their 2007 peak.

-- Roger Vincent