by Calculated Risk on 11/04/2008 08:39:00 PM

Not much happening tonight (except some sort of election) ... but here are a couple of interesting articles on commercial real estate (CRE):

From Bloomberg: NYC Commercial Property Sales Plunge in Credit Freeze

New York City commercial real estate transactions plunged 61 percent in 2008 through October as the global credit crisis roiled lending and sidelined buyers.

About $17 billion of transactions have closed so far and the market is headed for its worst year since 2004 ...

From the WaPo: Financial Crisis Hits Commercial Real Estate Market

PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute concluded in a recently report released that "U.S. commercial real estate faces its worst year since the wrenching 1991-1992 industry depression."

The report said that nationwide, rents are stagnant and likely to drop. Vacancy rates at offices, shopping malls and hotels are expected to rise and billions of dollars of loans are coming due next year.