As interim CEO Gary Hunt commented during the company's earnings conference call yesterday, the company is operating in "one of the weakest transaction markets in decades," a fact that is reflected in the declining Grubb & Ellis revenues in that category. Hunt also noted that first-quarter vacancy rates increased in all four main property types in the first quarter--office, industrial, retail and multifamily--while "Drivers of demand for each property type all weakened in response to the recession."

Looking forward, Hunt said that although some of the stock market's recent rallies were encouraging, and although some economists are saying that the recession could end late this year, no viable signs of recovery are visible in the commercial real estate markets yet."We are not counting on any short-term relief," the Grubb & Ellis interim CEO said.

In its tally of the effect of the recession and other factors on transaction services, Grubb & Ellis reported that transaction services revenue for the fourth quarter of 2008, for example, dropped to $67.1 million, compared with $93.6 million for the same period in the previous year. For the full year, the transaction services revenue slid to $240.3 million, compared with $312.3 million for 2007.