For retail, "Cap rates are inching up," but retail properties "are not moving as quickly," said panelist Ross Glickman, CEO of locally based Urban Retail Properties. Real estate investment trusts focused on retail have been affected in the past couple of months but "We think that real estate investment trusts in our sector have been overvalued," Glickman said. "Over the last several months, the REITs in the shopping center sector have really taken a pretty severe hit," Glickman said. Market values have been, at times, as much as 20% and 30% below what they were nine months ago. Specialty retail is expected to be affected during the holidays in what some are predicting to be a train wreck, he says. "Big boxes will prevail [as well as] the discounters, the mass merchandisers," Glickman said. "Families are now prioritizing their spending needs."

Developers are having a hard time obtaining loans for new office buildings and lenders are looking more at tenancy in the acquisition of existing office buildings, Axelrod says. In the South Loop, there have been longer market times but still a strong number of bidders for land, said panelist Marty Paris, president of locally based Sedgwick Properties. "We have seen stabilized land values and appreciated land values," Paris said. "We are seeing competition from hotels, for sale condo, apartment, land speculation and retail users." There has been an "influx" of international buyers, he said.

Industrial, on the other hand has not really been negatively affected. "The industrial markets in Chicago have remained very strong. Chicago is a hub city. It is a strong industrial location," Cohen said. "I think industrial has held up very well." Also, residential rental properties have fared better since the subprime problems. "There have been some new apartment developments and rents have continued to go up," Cohen said. Some condominium units will be rented out, with estimates of 800 units on the shadow market, and that will affect apartment rents in the future. "It will keep the price of rentals down," he said.

Attwood believes that the "crisis" is not nearly as bad as it is being portrayed. "I think it is a media phenomenon," he said. The subprime loans are about $500 billion with repayment problems of only about $100 billion, in comparison to the $14-trillion GDP, Attwood said. Glickman believes that developers and companies have to diversify, particularly when it comes to who they will join in joint ventures. "I think there are a tremendous amount of opportunities outside of the confines of this country," he said, noting there are opportunities in places such as Panama, Brazil and southeastern and central Europe.