CCIM: The New China Hand

Global Roots... How international is the real estate profession? Here's a fascinating factoid. In 2005, 38% of all new CCIM designees (those achieving CCIM designation) practiced outside the U.S.

That's according to Pius Leung, Immediate Past President of the CCIM Institute, who says that China alone now has 240 local CCIM members. Leung himself traveled to China five times last year from his Houston office.

So when you look at CCIM's 2006 schedule for its five-day
CI 101, Financial Analysis for Commercial Investment Real Estate, you'll see Shanghai, China (May 16), listed between Chicago, IL (May 15), and Tucson, AZ (Jun 15).

Likewise, Moscow, Russia (Sep 11), is listed between Albany, NY (Sep 8), and Indianapolis, IN (Sep 11). Get the picture? All CCIM courses are taught in English with simultaneous translation. So CCIM members worldwide study the same curriculum.

Of course, that leads to the question: Is anybody in Shanghai doing a market study to assess the demand for office space? Just this week The Olympian, ( Apr 2, 2006, Olympia, WA), quotes one economic expert saying that "fully a quarter of the world’s construction cranes are in Shanghai." Oops. Is this true?

When I asked Leung about overbuilding, he replied that it's hard to relate Chinese demand to the U.S. model. First, their office market is not "mature," having existed only for about twenty years." Second, there is a huge need for companies all across China to have a presence in a gateway city like Shanghai, which adds an important political component to internal demand.

For the next few years, Leung expects the local attitude to remain "if-we-build-it-they-will-come." This definitely is not part of the CI 101 curriculum. If overbuilding does occur, don't blame the CCIM!

-- Peter Pike