But the operative word in this report may be "gradually," because every Broward County submarket continues to be affected by the recession. Not only are there few office property sales, the ones which have occurred are for small properties.

"There haven't been a lot of sales," says Douglas Mandel, vice president for investments at Marcus & Millichap Ft. Lauderdale. One of the few examples he noted was that of the 32,000-square-foot "Allstate building," named for the former occupant, in Margate, a Ft. Lauderdale suburb, which was purchased by a user in February for $3.2 million or $100 per square foot.

"We are going to see more of the same," says Mandel, referring to the dearth of office property sales. "There is not a lot of inventory in Broward, because some people are not in a position to sell. With a lot of assets, the market value, would be below the debt value, so financially the owners can't sell," he says.