International Money Buoys Commercial Markets in U.S.

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The long-predicted commercial market disaster in the U.S., which was supposed to dwarf the impact of the residential collapse, hasn't materialized, according to a panel of industry executives.

"The failure we were all anticipating didn't really happen," said Richard LeFrak, chairman of the LeFrak Organization, during this week's Milken Institute Global Conference.

On a panel entitled "Reviving the Commercial Real Estate Market," executives agreed the U.S. market has likely reached a bottom, even though vacancy rates in office and retail are close to 20 percent in some markets.

International money has helped stabilize the market, said Barry Sternlicht, c.e.o. of Starwood Capital Group.

"A lot of foreign capital that didn't own in the U.S. and that's boosting the market," he said.

Global REITs are also funneling money into the U.S. market, which is still seen as the "gold standard" for international markets.

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