Bears and Bulls and Dirt, Oh My!

Eddie Baeb at Crain's is reporting that, per a survey conducted by DLA Piper (formerly Rudnick & Wolfe, for you old-timers), Chicago real estate pros are increasingly bearish about the market. The results were almost a complete turn around from a similar survey in April.

Three things stand out to me here. One is that a bear's pessimism is a bull's opportunity. The second is closely related -- if the herd goes left, my clients like to go right. The third is Louis Cohen's view that the "pessimism is probably more a function of the individuals surveyed and not a reflection on Chicago’s market." Bingo. Busy dirt pros are not filling out surveys. They are doing deals you are not yet hearing about.

Speaking of which...back to work.

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