NEWARK-Recent economic turmoil and dipping consumer confidence has increased the risk of a double-dip recession, but its effect on the Garden State--and the entire country--is still uncertain, said Collete English-Dixon, vice president-transactions for Prudential Real Estate Investors, who lead the New Jersey Chapter of CREW Network’s Prospective New Member Breakfast at the Newark Club at the end of September.

In kicking off CREW’s annual membership drive, English-Dixon provided an overview of the real estate market and current state of the economy, predicting that the country’s best-case scenario still calls for slow growth in GDP and positive gains in employment. “As real estate values recover, recapitalization will provide opportunities for high-yield debt and equity investments,” she told prospective members.

In terms of property demand, English-Dixon deemed the recovery “uneven,” noting it has been strong for apartments and grocery-anchored retail, but weak “for almost everything else,” especially in the secondary and tertiary markets. At the same time, she said core real estate is “expensive,” causing many investors to consider investing in secondary markets and other property types. “Low interest rates and strong demand for stable cash flow have caused cap rates for core assets in some prime markets to further compress,” she advised.