RCA in the commercial property press:

Is it Time for the Vultures?

Crain's Chicago Business reports: Vulture investors are circling Chicago's real estate landscape, but few are swooping yet. Ironically, some of the vultures are real estate developers — the very people many observers blame for the frenzy of overbuilding that promises to prolong the recession.

But developers who have survived the crash with cash in hand — or with access to other peoples' cash — are stowing away their cranes and backhoes and beginning to hunt for distressed properties to buy at substantial discounts. Many see this as a way to survive until demand for new construction picks up again — a prospect that could be years away.

Prices on local apartment properties are down already. The average price per unit for Chicago-area apartment properties sold between October and March fell 15% from a year earlier, to $101,215, according to New York-based research firm Real Capital Analytics Inc. But before hungry investors start licking their chops, there are challenges to consider.