by Calculated Risk on 11/18/2008 11:53:00 AM

Another indicator that the CRE slump is here from HousingWire: Study: Real Estate Woes Move into CRE

Residential real estate woes are spreading into commercial real estate markets across the nation, with a report released Tuesday morning showing a 17 percent annual decline in the number of environmental site assessments conducted across the U.S. in the third quarter.

The data, released as part of a report from Environmental Data Resources Inc., is a key leading indicator of overall CRE market health; phase I environmental site assessments (called ESAs, in industry speak) are a standard pre-closing activity for many commercial real estate transactions.

The non-residential investment slump will be a signficant drag on Q4 GDP. Goldman Sachs is estimating business investment will subtract 0.8% from GDP in Q4 (worst case 2.7%!).