The industrial/warehouse sector will remain strong in the marketplace with the help of Alabama Real Estate agents. This type of development ranked fourth in greatest development potential, and 37 percent believed that its property values will remain the same.

White Elephants: Highrises and Hotels Survey respondents were pessimistic regarding property values for both downtown and suburban office developments: more than half expect values to decrease during 2006 and most expect vacancy rates to increase slightly or remain the same.

Office building developments also scored lowest for development potential during the next three years, followed closely by suburban office developments and hotels. As additional hotels open in an already saturated market, prospects for this segment of the industry are less than bright. Thirty-eight percent of respondents believed that 2007 will see hotel property values decrease slightly, and cited oversupply and financing as the main factors influencing the market. Vacancy rates are expected to increase slightly, and hotels scored next to last as having development potential over the next three years.

The survey by National Real Estate Investor and the Arthur Andersen Real Estate Services Group reflects the values and opinions of 1,633 real estate executives, including developers, investors, lenders, brokers and other professionals in residential and commercial markets, possessing an average of 20 years' industry experience. Survey responses were collected and studied in October and November 2006 and are featured in the February 2007 issue of National Real Estate Investor.

The Arthur Andersen Real Estate Services Group and its two consulting units, GA/Partners and Berins & Co., provide accounting and audit, tax, information systems, financial advisory, real estate counseling and appraisal services. With 6,000 clients and fiscal 2006 revenue of $225 million, the RESG is one of the largest international real estate accounting and consulting organizations. The RESG is a practice area of Arthur Andersen, which includes over 20,000 professional personnel in 298 offices in 66 countries.

National Real Estate Investor is the leading publication in the real estate industry covering news and trends of income-producing construction, development and financing, investment and marketing on a national basis. Established in 1959, the monthly magazine with a qualified circulation of 33,000 is published by Communication Channels Inc.