Shaffer went on to explain, "The credit crunch and possible recession will most likely lead to a decline of property values by around 15% to 20% in the US commercial real estate market." He believes that "the downturn will last 2-3 years, after which within 10 years property values will be substantially higher than today's value. In the short run, REITs will continue to suffer price decreases, but in the long term REITs which use much less leverage will have a competitive advantage over leveraged buyers."

The conference in New York was organized by Terrapinn. Shaffer spoke two weeks ago at Cityscape Dubai regarding the best opportunities for investing around the globe and is conference chairman of IQPC Real Estate 2007 and will introduce keynote Sam Zell. IRETO, the 112,000 member global business network he started, helps global investors and local market experts network and connect. IRETO also provides leading market research, including The Global Real Estate and Asia Real Estate Reports. In addition, IRETO provides breaking interviews with leading experts on GlobalRealEstateRadio.com. IRETO and Reuters Real Estate.com will host an exclusive investors outlook in London on December 7, 2007.

IRETO Main Site: http://www.ireto.org