• Compared to 2011 results, the commercial real estate sector continues optimism for leasing and sale transactions in 2012, indicate higher reliance on private equity in 2012, have dropped opportunities requiring land development financings and are more skeptical about future job growth and increased regulations.

During the Northern Colorado Real Estate Conference, commentary and insights on the survey were provided by Scott Glick, a CSU professor of construction management; Michael Gifford, executive director of AGC of Colorado; Mark Latimer, executive director of ABC Rocky Mountain; and Sonia Riggs, executive director of AIA Colorado.

Survey results were presented by Steven Laposa, a professor in the CSU College of Business and Loveland Commercial Endowed Chair in Real Estate.

During separate breakout sessions, Mike Rinner of The Genesis Group and Julie Piepho of Cornerstone Mortgage discussed vital residential and mortgage market trends, while Paul Brinkman of Brinkman Construction, Allen Ginsberg of Newmark Merrill, Randy Shortridge of RB+B Architects responded to a new research report on the five-year office and retail forecast for Fort-Collins-Loveland and Greeley released by the Everitt Real Estate Center.

“We recognize the perils of forecasting especially during challenging economic times when news on the economy and real estate markets can quickly change overnight,” said Laposa, co-author of the report. “Yet we believe our five-year office and retail forecasts for Fort Collins-Loveland and Greeley provides a possible roadmap for public and private sectors to dampen future real estate cyclical risks as Northern Colorado continues to develop and mature as a market.

Bob White, president of Real Capital Analytics of New York, a leading expert on global real estate capital markets, was the keynote speaker at the event.