RCA in the commercial property press:

Global real estate reality check long overdue

Reuters reports: The global economic renaissance will remain in grave peril until banks and investors quit mourning the end of a long-dead real estate boom and face up to losses inflicted by years of reckless lending and spending.

While those on the global property market frontline have struggled through phases of shock, denial and acceptance, others are failing to cope with the bitter reality that property values and the price of debt are unlikely to see 2007 levels soon.

Leading industry figures at the 2009 Reuters Global Real Estate Summit will be asked whether reluctant lenders and pipe-dreaming sellers have a responsibility to realize losses, to soothe parched property markets and slake stubborn fears in the underlying weakness in some of the world's biggest banks.

Until investors find reassurance, this stalemate in the global property sector is destined to prevail.

Real Capital Analytics estimates second-quarter 2009 global property transaction volumes are down 67 percent year-on-year to $48.6 billion, reflecting poor demand and poorer access to debt.