Like the housing market, the commercial market is waning
The commercial real estate market follows the residential market by 12 to 18 months, according to conventional wisdom.
Those 12 to 18 months ended in early 2007. And like the residential market, Southwest Florida’s commercial real estate market has begun to slide.
Both the total number of deals and the total dollar volume in the three-county region were down 30 percent over the 12 months ended Nov. 30 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to county property appraiser data.
“This summer was dreadful,” said John Swart, vice president of commercial sales for Schroeder-Manatee Ranch.