In an article published in the Wall Street Journal of today in an interview with one the most aggressive
real state investors of the 1990's, he gives his feeling of the state of the market today and the future.
"Sam Zell gained the nickname "the grave dancer" in the early 1990s for buying beaten-down real-estate properties and riding them to huge recoveries.
He has done relatively little buying since the market crashed five years ago, viewing prices as remaining too high, even as rivals such as Blackstone Group and Carlyle Group made big acquisitions.
Mr. Zell says "he has a low of just 30% of his personal investment portfolio in real-estate investments, down from 40% about seven years ago. In 1990, half his money was tied to real estate".
"We're dealing with a world that's dramatically more volatile, and that requires more caution and care than before"
The 71-year-old real estate mogul has been one of the biggest, most aggressive commercial-real-estate investors for decades, accumulating a net worth of $4 billion, according to Forbes magazine. In 2007, for example, he practically defined the top of the market with his deal to sell Equity Office Properties Trust to Blackstone Group for a record $39 billion—a deal that netted him personally around $1 billion, said people close to him.
Mr. Zell's opinion is one side of a heated debate in the market, with some investors convinced values will keep rising and others arguing that economic growth in the U.S. and elsewhere has been artificially enhanced by loose central-bank policies and will slow when the easy money ends.
Commercial-property values have rebounded strongly and hit record territory this year. An index compiled by Green Street Advisors that fell 61.7 in May 2009 from 100 in August 2007 climbed back to 104.3 last month. But in recent months, prices have stalled because of rising interest rates, Green Street says".
real state investors of the 1990's, he gives his feeling of the state of the market today and the future.
"Sam Zell gained the nickname "the grave dancer" in the early 1990s for buying beaten-down real-estate properties and riding them to huge recoveries.
He has done relatively little buying since the market crashed five years ago, viewing prices as remaining too high, even as rivals such as Blackstone Group and Carlyle Group made big acquisitions.
Mr. Zell says "he has a low of just 30% of his personal investment portfolio in real-estate investments, down from 40% about seven years ago. In 1990, half his money was tied to real estate".
"We're dealing with a world that's dramatically more volatile, and that requires more caution and care than before"
The 71-year-old real estate mogul has been one of the biggest, most aggressive commercial-real-estate investors for decades, accumulating a net worth of $4 billion, according to Forbes magazine. In 2007, for example, he practically defined the top of the market with his deal to sell Equity Office Properties Trust to Blackstone Group for a record $39 billion—a deal that netted him personally around $1 billion, said people close to him.
Mr. Zell's opinion is one side of a heated debate in the market, with some investors convinced values will keep rising and others arguing that economic growth in the U.S. and elsewhere has been artificially enhanced by loose central-bank policies and will slow when the easy money ends.
Commercial-property values have rebounded strongly and hit record territory this year. An index compiled by Green Street Advisors that fell 61.7 in May 2009 from 100 in August 2007 climbed back to 104.3 last month. But in recent months, prices have stalled because of rising interest rates, Green Street says".
