Job Barometer Update: October

The Silver Lining

Finding the silver lining in a slumping real estate job market is a difficult task given the disproportionately low number of new job postings in September.  However, the Select Leaders/Cornell Job Barometer Update found two areas of modest silver lining among predominantly grey clouds. 

So where is the commercial real estate job market trending?  It’s no secret that a flood of CMBS and other commercial real estate debt will soon be maturing, and the hope is that the issues related to this troublesome debt will be proactively resolved before the largest portion of it comes due in 2010-2013 (Table 1). 

Table 1:  Commercial Real Estate Mortgage Maturities

Source: Jonathan Geanakos, Houlihan Lokey (The Federal Reserve and Foresight Analytics)

The need for companies to add quality people that have experience in workouts and restructuring is a natural bi-product of the current environment.  The SelectLeaders/Cornell Job Barometer found that workout/restructuring jobs in the finance job postings increased by 9% over the prior 11%, and constituted the second largest area of job opportunities under the finance sector in September (Table 2).

Table 2: Workout/Restructuring Jobs in Finance

Source: Workout/Restructuring commercial real estate positions on key job boards from August and September 2009.

Individuals that have strong negotiation skills, financial analysis abilities and an understanding of the law related to complex mortgages – just the skills needed in the workout and restructuring area – can expect to have a number of opportunities.

Not surprisingly, those workout and restructuring jobs are located where the greatest distress exists.  California is the state with the greatest number of foreclosures, and also leads the nation with the most job postings related to workouts and restructuring (Table 3).  Additionally, there were 140 hotels in default or foreclosure in Southern California alone in September.  Given the abnormally high number of commercial properties that were financed with irrational expectations in 2005-2007, lenders from national and private banks as well as specialty consulting groups are hiring workout and restructuring professionals now more than ever to find solutions to these complex mortgages.

Table 3: Workout/Restructuring Jobs in Finance by Location


Source: Workout/Restructuring commercial real estate positions on key job boards from February 2008 to September 2009.

Additional opportunities in the real estate job market that have seen a dramatic rise in postings are asset and property management positions.  As companies focus on strengthening existing properties within their portfolios, they are looking to hire young professionals who bring fresh, new ideas to the organization in an effort to keep current tenants happy while maintaining profitable assets.  According to Anthony LoPinto, CEO of Equinox Partners, there is no reason to shy away from asset management positions. “The asset-level experience is the prime experience: you learn the business from the ground up, you understand the dynamics of the market, and perhaps most significantly, you’re going to have a better chance of getting hired by a class A company through that entry point than you would through development.”

So at a time when all news seems to be bad news related to job opportunities in real estate, being flexible with location and job function in the short term could lead to a more ideal opportunity in the long run. 

Author: Sam Bechthold, Cornell Program in Real Estate Student