MIAMI-The CRE Finance Council January Conference kicked off Monday with 1,300 attendees gathering at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel to discuss what 2012 holds in store on the finance front.

Before the conference started, CREFC CEO Stephen Renna told GlobeSt.com that 2012 will offer some advantages, despite the challenges, because “there aren’t any shocks out there about what could happen.” Renna said that the main points of uncertainty center around government debt—both here in the US and abroad.

“As far as people seeing the beginning of 2012—they know what the headwinds are and they’re adapting to them,” Renna said of those working to finance real estate deals. “So with respect to CMBS, for instance, we wound up the year right about $30 billion of issuance and most people are predicting maybe $35 billion to $40 billion. They’re not predicting any huge surge but they’re not seeing right now any factors outside of the sovereign factors that I mention.”