Capital Markets' Turmoil Clouds Some Realities

DALLAS-As each new day brings riveting capital market news, the trickledown effect in Dallas/Fort Worth has been the dramatic slowdown in office investment sales. Yet, one powerhouse buyer and one Wall Street-savvy broker agree that the market’s dysfunction is an overdue correction that, for some, will bring more good than harm.

Year to date, Dallas/Fort Worth’s office building sales are one-third of last year’s total for the same period, according to John Alvarado, managing director in Dallas for Jones Lang LaSalle. Of the 26 sales to date this year, the average price is $152 per sf at an average cap rate of 6.4%. In 2007′s first eight months, there were 75 sales, with the average at $106 per sf and cap rate of 5.7%. Ironically, he says this year’s sales have racked up $1.3 billion so far, pointing out it’s not that far off from 2007′s $1.8 billion.

“The volume numbers are skewed by the large transactions that we had in the first quarter, but the closing number that we’ve had shows a significantly lower volume of activity,” Alvarado says. The historical look, dating back to 1995, shows the region is on track to return to its normal trading activity of 20 to 40 transactions per year, ending a three-year Olympic run when 60 to 90 office properties were selling annually, he tells GlobeSt.com.