Commercial Property Deals May Double in U.S. as Blackstone Bets on Rebound

U.S. commercial property purchases may double this year as confidence builds among investors with access to credit and equity that values will rebound.

Blackstone Group LP’s planned $9.4 billion purchase of U.S. shopping centers and Ventas Inc.’s proposed $5.7 billion buyout of a health-care real estate investment trust, one of two multi- billion dollar health care REIT deals announced yesterday, may mean a wave of commercial real estate acquisitions is coming as buyers regain confidence in the market.

“Both these deals are a great signal that liquidity has returned to the commercial real estate space,” Dan Fasulo, managing director of Real Capital Analytics Inc., said in a telephone interview. “It certainly will have ripple effects on the entire industry.”

Transactions surged over the past year as the economy began to recover and low interest rates made it cheaper for REITs and private-equity buyers to acquire office, retail, industrial, apartment and health-care properties. Completed acquisitions by U.S. REITs more than tripled to $24 billion in the 12 months through the end of February compared with the previous year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Fasulo said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if U.S. commercial property purchases double in 2011 from almost $140 billion in 2010...