Real estate 'distress' hits Austin

From KXAN, December 26, 2008...

The number of empty buildings in Austin is continuing to grow, and current property owners are becoming more distressed, according to two recent reports. Austin has nearly $76 million worth of distressed commercial properties and nearly $1.6 billion in potentially troubled properties, according to a recent report from Real Capital Analytics, a New York based real-estate research firm.

The report defines "distressed" as a bankruptcy of a general partner, and leasing and sales projections that fail to come to fruition, among other things. Austin was 17th out of 39 metropolitan markets, according to the report in the number of distressed properties. Still, the numbers need perspective, said Kevin Burns, CEO of Urbanspace Realtors.

"To have $76 million in distressed properties really isn't that much," said Burns. "We're holding up much better than everybody else."

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