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By JILL ESTERBROOKS, Special to the Daily Transcript
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
"In the past year, my business hasn't been up or down, just steady. It is hard to say whether this flatness is due to 9/11, the stock market, a sluggish economy or a combination of these factors," said Jay Diskin of IPC Commercial/TNC. "And the response I've heard industrywide is that business isn't necessarily off, just flat or stagnant.
"If 9/11 hadn't occurred and the stock market hadn't been so volatile, I think I would have seen a 10 to 15 percent increase in volume -- an increase I'm projecting for the year ahead as people finally start recovering and moving forward," he said.
And while business is holding steady, Diskin said he's working harder to make the same number of deals.
"What I'm sensing from people are all these perceived risks -- a risk that there might be another terrorist attack or the market might go down or interest rates might go up or down," he said. "These perceived risks make it harder to persuade people to make a decision. They just seem to be floating, or waiting to see what will happen next."
For example, he said instead of moving or expanding, businesses are just remaining in existing spaces. Or investors might shy away from a high-rise because of the perceived risk or higher insurance premiums and purchase a low-rise building or not invest at all at this time.
He also sees people weighing buildings' security risks. "It used to be that people would look at the physical condition and maintenance costs of a building. And now they also evaluate its safeness."
At the same time, Diskin said there are some folks who've seen this last year as a good time to sign a new lease, and buy and sell properties. "With interest rates down and a softness in some areas, a lot of people are taking advantage of the market conditions."
Esterbrooks is a free-lance writer based in San Diego.
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