For those of you who celebrate, I wish you a Merry Christmas.

This year has been a hectic year for many; certainly for those of us in real estate. I've heard a lot of people tell me that they've "never worked so hard only to feel like they have accomplished so little."

Looking back at what I wrote on the first day of this year, I was wrong about many of my 2023 predictions. I thought the interest rate hikes would be over by the first quarter of the year and that the spring would bring greater optimism for new development projects.

This was partially true -- we did see some buoyancy around spring -- but then further increases over the summer really quashed the pre-construction condominium market and overall developer sentiment for basically the rest of the year.

I also thought that we would see distress within the industry in the first half of the year. That didn't quite play out, as far as I can tell, and I now think that 2024 will be the year for this.

All of this said, I do feel that 2023 was a highly productive year. I'm proud of what I accomplished both personally and professionally. And this holiday season, I'm looking forward to slowing things down, spending time with family and friends, and catching up on some life management.

Hopefully you are all able to do something similar. Merry Christmas, everyone.

For those of you who celebrate, I wish you a Merry Christmas.

This year has been a hectic year for many; certainly for those of us in real estate. I've heard a lot of people tell me that they've "never worked so hard only to feel like they have accomplished so little."

Looking back at what I wrote on the first day of this year, I was wrong about many of my 2023 predictions. I thought the interest rate hikes would be over by the first quarter of the year and that the spring would bring greater optimism for new development projects.

This was partially true -- we did see some buoyancy around spring -- but then further increases over the summer really quashed the pre-construction condominium market and overall developer sentiment for basically the rest of the year.

I also thought that we would see distress within the industry in the first half of the year. That didn't quite play out, as far as I can tell, and I now think that 2024 will be the year for this.

All of this said, I do feel that 2023 was a highly productive year. I'm proud of what I accomplished both personally and professionally. And this holiday season, I'm looking forward to slowing things down, spending time with family and friends, and catching up on some life management.

Hopefully you are all able to do something similar. Merry Christmas, everyone.