CEO Survey on Sustainability Reveals Focus on Corporate Real Estate

CEO Survey on Sustainability Reveals Focus on Corporate Real Estate

A new global survey of 1,254 senior business executives, including more than 300 CEOs, shows that energy efficiency plays a central role in corporate sustainability efforts — a finding that has implications for how companies manage their real estate. Fifty-two percent of all respondents named energy efficiency as one of their leading sustainability priorities, a goal that is addressed primarily or solely through real estate strategies.

The survey, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), was co-sponsored by global real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle and seven other leading companies from different industries: A.T. Kearney, Bank of America, ExxonMobil, Orange, PricewaterhouseCoopers, SAP and SunGard. The overall report, issued by the EIU today, sheds light on the growing importance of corporate sustainability in enabling companies to compete and to attract customers. While the survey did not focus specifically on real estate topics, 46 percent of respondents selected one of three real estate strategies as the number-one sustainability priority from a list of 10 possible priorities.

“CEOs and other corporate officers are very focused on improving sustainability, but they may not realize the major impact their real estate departments can make in achieving their goals,” said Dan Probst, Chairman, global environmental sustainability board at Jones Lang LaSalle. “As this study shows, the path to sustainability often starts with real estate and facility strategies.”

Real estate down; offices close [California]

Real estate down; offices close [California]

The current housing slump, which is expected to continue through 2008, is causing local real estate businesses to close their doors.

“Unfortunately, when the market peaked we had a lot of properties pop up,” said Carolyn McNamara, owner of the McNamara Group, a local realty company that has been in business for almost 20 years.

“My projection is in the next six months we’ll see 20 percent less of the offices up here than we do now.”

McNamara said that there were five or six real estate offices in Phelan until the housing boom, when the number jumped to 12. Two of those have already closed since the housing downturn, McNamara said.

The changing face of real estate

The changing face of real estate

It’s no secret that today’s consumer is more equipped with information than ever before. From EBay, Google and blogs, to online retailers and consumer advocacy sites, buyer behaviour has never been so fragmented, yet thorough.
Gone are the days when you would walk into a store, do a few price comparisons, and walk out with something. When you want to buy a digital camera or computer, you don’t leave home. You do your research on the Net, and you’ll likely make your purchase online, too.

Real estate is another market segment in which the Web is having significant impact. In the past, interested customers would phone a Realtor’s paging service, leave their phone number, and wait in trepidation for real or perceived pressure to buy, sell or at least set up a meeting.

Today, the Internet has given even tire-kickers the expectation of being able to find out what they want, when they want it — in virtual anonymity.

Shanghai’s real estate sector in doldrums [China]

Shanghai’s real estate sector in doldrums [China]

Investment in Shanghai’s real estate market is expected to grow less rapidly and become more vulnerable to policy uncertainties in 2008, according to several large real estate service providers.

Real estate investment saw a slowdown in the fourth quarter last year, with only one notable sales transaction completed in the city, after the government implemented the land appreciation tax and imposed additional restrictions on foreign investment in the sector, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

“Increasing monetary control and tightening policies are bringing more uncertainties, particularly to the investment market,” said Lee Hingyin, director of Research & Consultancy at Colliers International (Shanghai).

“The investment market may feel the pinch, and it is likely that foreign investors will be more vulnerable to these policy changes this year,” said Lee, adding that he expects more severe measures, which will significantly cool down the investment market.

Business coalition opposes hike in real estate transfer tax [Chicago]

Business coalition opposes hike in real estate transfer tax [Chicago]

Calling a proposed 40 percent increase in a government fee charged on Chicago home buyers “the wrong tax on the wrong people at the wrong time,” a coalition of real estate agents, home builders and business interests Thursday urged the City Council to delay a vote on the increase scheduled for next week.

“We collectively are asking the CTA to slow down,” said Brian Bernardoni, director of government affairs for the Chicago Association of Realtors.

Bernardoni said the Chicago Transit Authority is pressuring aldermen to make a quick decision when state legislation approved as part of last month’s public transit funding package gives the council six months to enact it. Under the proposal, the city’s transfer tax, paid by property buyers, would increase to $10.50 for every $1,000 of the property sale price from the current fee of $7.50 per $1,000. If imposed on a home that sold for about $250,000, the increase would add roughly $748 to the current transfer tax of $2,244, according to calculations by the association.

US recession will boost Philippines real estate – experts

US recession will boost Philippines real estate – experts

A looming recession in the United States is expected to boost the Philippines’ booming property market and its outsourcing industries, real estate consultants CB Richard Ellis (NYSE:CBG) said Thursday.

‘We see no end for the demand for commercial real estate,’ CB Richard Ellis Philippines chairman Rick Santos told a news conference.

‘We haven’t seen this much interest since pre-1997 (before the Asian crisis),’ he said.

A report by the company said that while the call center industry in the Philippines may feel the brunt of a US recession it will be offset by an increase in the BPO (business process outsourcing) business as US companies increase their outsourcing of back office operations.