This post marks the beginning of what I hope will be a long and productive multi-way conversation between EDR, our customers, our employees and really anyone who cares about real estate. I hope that in the coming weeks and months this site will develop into a great place for the exchange of ideas and information to anyone who comes across it.

As I sit here writing this, CNBC is on my split-screen showing the DJIA down another 213 points today which leads directly to the question a lot of our clients have been calling us about over the past few weeks: What will the impact of the current credit crunch be on the CMBS and general commerical real estate market? Well, the quick and easy answer is "I don't know". But I will offer up the following points I heard yesterday during a conference call with EDR's sister company; Trepp.

For starters, what is happening now is not a "real estate event" but is a "capital markets event". The point being that CRE fundamentals remain good and money continues to flow into CRE. This is not to say that things aren't changing, though. Clearly, there is less silly money out there, underwriting has become more conservative and refi activity has dried up.

All of this will certainly reduce CMBS issuances over the next few months but we're already seeing some of this business simply transfered to balance sheet lenders (who say they're swamped right now).

For most Phase I professionals I don't think there will be a huge impact on your business just because of the current re-pricing of risk in the capital markets. However, I would (and do) keep a close eye on the US consumer, consumer spending and consumer confidence. If things change for the worse here then I think we're looking at a different story.

When the CEO of Wal-Mart says "customers are running out of money", I worry a little.