Spokane's commercial real estate market, which is usually somewhat insulated from slowdowns in the national economy, saw significant declines in 2008 and 2009. Spokane's many small businesses continued to seek space to lease and buildings to purchase through SBA financing. Due to the lack of readily available financing, investment and development activity ground to a standstill. The attached statistics provided by Scott Fonte of First American Title Company bring this into clear focus. The number of commercial transactions in Spokane County were down 38% in 2008 and almost 40% in 2009. We look for this trend to reverse in 2010 as the economy improves, investors come back into the market, and financing becomes more available.



Jeff K Johnson

Global Economic Outlook