Investors around the world seeking American real estate.  Interesting article:

http://afire.org/sites/default/files/pdf/press/2013-foreign-investment-survey-pr.pdf

Growth in Jacksonville, FL.  A near-dock rail facility at Jacksonville’s port will likely be open for business by April 2015, a port official said.

Joe Miller, the Jacksonville Port Authority's senior director of facilities development, shared the project's schedule at a luncheon meeting of logistics professionals Wednesday.

Jaxport will issue a request for proposals for the Intermodal Container Transfer Facility, or ICTF, May 1 and the board will approve a contractor in September. Construction is estimated to take another 18 months, Miller said.

The project is already fully funded by a $10 million grant from the federal government and a $20 million match from the state of Florida.

The ICTF will make Jaxport more competitive in the growing international container ship market by enabling the immediate transfer of containers from ships dockside to trains.

Asked how much an ITCF might increase the number of containers shipped through Jaxport, Dennis Kelly, general manager of Trapac, Jaxport’s container terminal, said a normal industry trend is 15 to 20 percent.

Jaxport’s board in March authorized staff to acquire by eminent domain, if necessary, a half acre of privately owned land overlapping the site. Ownership rights to the entire parcel has been disputed by a developer who sought to purchase the property, Jaxport staff has said. Eminent domain would be a quick way to resolve any third party interest.

Jaxport Senior Director of Planning and Properties David Kaufman on Wednesday said Jaxport is working first to settle the issue through mediation.

Colony House Apartments, a 20-unit apartment property in Tampa, has sold for $1,265,000, or $63,250 per unit.

Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services marketed the property for Colony House of Tampa LLC, a Brandon-based company run by Brian J. Clavering, state business records show.

The buyer was a California-based 1031-exchange listed in court records as Ray Joseph Enterprises Inc. The same buyer also recently purchased Church Avenue Apartments in Tampa for $665,000.

Earle Hyman and Nicholas Meoli of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer in both deals.

Colony House, 4332 West North B Street in Westshore, was built in 1965 and completely renovated in 2007.

Just some data from other professionals in the CRE industry. 

Real estate economists Hans Nordby, Shaw Lupton and Suzanne Mulvee of CoStar's Property and Portfolio Research (PPR) analytic and forecasting company were among the notable market analysts sharing their views in the latest semi-annual forecast from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Ernst & Young.

Rallying from the diminished expectations seen last fall when the economic recovery hit a soft patch, the consensus of leading real estate economists and analysts now expects steady improvement in commercial real estate fundamentals and capital markets, including a nearly 7% increase in commercial property transaction volume in 2013 to $310 billion, followed by increases to $340 billion and $360 billion in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) issuance, a cornerstone of CRE financing, is expected to rise to $70 billion this year, a nearly 50% increase over 2012's $48 billion. CMBS will rise to $80 billion in 2014 and reach $100 billion in 2015.

Suzanne Mulvee, PPR's director of research, retail, was even more bullish on CMBS issuance than the consensus view, asserting that it will hit $100 billion next year, a year sooner.

"This is the first time in a number of years that all of the debt spigots are open," Mulvee said during a panel discussion on the findings Wednesday morning. "It's not a fire hose, but definitely a big change from a couple of years ago. I think you'll see transaction volume continue to accelerate."

Despite some tapering off of price increases and ROI, the forecast predicts commercial real estate will "be on solid footing for the next three years," with a revival of investor confidence following years of uncertainty about the economy, according to ULI Senior Vice President Dean Schwanke, executive director of the ULI Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate. And while strengthening property fundamentals and capital markets bode well for the market as a whole, question markes remain over such factors as government spending cuts through sequestration and other fiscal uncertainty.

"We've reached the point in the cycle where fiscal uncertainty seems to be the biggest hurdle," said Kevin Thorpe, chief economist and principal, Cassidy Turley, Washington, D.C. "If the full sequestration is allowed to take place, most economists predict it will slow growth by half a percentage point and 500,000 jobs would be lost. But we don't know if it's going to be fully implemented. Putting that aside, there are so many bright spots in this recovery, and you don't have to look any further than what's happening in housing and the equity markets. This economy really wants to go faster."

The consensus of economists now predicts that combined annual returns from direct investment in institutional-quality apartment, retail, industrial and office properties will continue a downward trend that started last year. Combined returns for the four major property groups will be 9.5% in 2013, falling to 9% and 8% in 2014 and 2015 — still within the range of historical averages.

Driving the projected CRE rally is a generally favorable outlook for the economic growth and employment by the panel of economists, which predicts gross domestic product (GDP) to rise by 2% this year, 3% in 2014 and 3.1% in 2015. The U.S. unemployment rate is expected to drop to 7.5% by year end, eventually falling to 6.5% by the end of 2015. Job creation will rise by 2.1 million this year, 2.4 million next year and 2.6 million in 2015 as the recovery hits full tilt.

While the U.S. recovery still has a ways to go, global cross-border capital is searching for the best risk-adjusted return and finding it in the U.S. real estate sector, a trend likely to continue for the foreseeable future, said Howard Roth, Ernst & Young’s global real estate leader.

As a further indication of the glass half full-half empty dichotomy, single-family housing starts and home values are expected to rise well above previous prediction — but so are inflation and interest rate as the economy heats up, which have a material impact on consumer spending and mortgage lending.

Economists expect the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to increase 2% this year, rising to 2.5% and 2.9% in 2014 and 2015. By the end of this year, 10-year Treasury rates are projected to rise to 2.3% by the end of 2013, 3% in 2014 and 3.5%in 2015.

While borrowing costs will go up, capitalization rates are expected to remain stable, boding well for commercial property values.

"It's no secret that with increased development on both the rental and for-sale side, we are seeing some building commodities start to rise," said Craig Thomas, vice president of market research, AvalonBay Communities, Inc. "If you want to look for the seeds of some higher inflation, you can look at construction costs, which are reflecting stronger development."

"With higher inflation, you can grow old waiting for it, but we're seeing some pressures on that side."

Among the CRE property types, the forecast includes the following:

Apartment vacancy rates will hold at 5% this year from 2012, edging up to 5.2% in 2014 and 2015. Rental growth is expected to be 3.8% this year, down from 4.1% in 2012, and decline to 3% in 2014 and 2.8% in 2015 as new supply hits the market.

Industrial/warehouse vacancy rates are expected to continue declining, reaching 12.2% at year end, and falling to 11.7% and 11.4% in 2014 and 2015. Rents will continue to strengthen, rising 2% in 2013, and 3% in both 2014 and 2015.

Office vacancy rates are expected to drop to 14.8% in 2013, 14.1% in 2014 and 13.6% in 2015, while rental rates will decline by 3.5% for 2013, and then rise by 4% for both 2014 and 2015.

Retail availability rates are expected to decline to 12.5% this year, then drop further to 12.2% in 2014 and 11.9% by 2015 as the economy and consumer spending improves. Retail rents are projected to rise by 1% in 2013, and 2% in 2014 and 2015.