Save us, Dubai World, from another year of bad commercial real estate!

Another year?

Maybe longer, says the chief economist with the Texas A&M Real Estate Center, before we even begin to see a recovery in the dismal commercial real estate market.

Should be pretty obvious why: despite nonsense to the contrary, any talk of an economic recovery is still premature, especially with the twin curses of unemployment and foreclosures continuing to rise.

The A&M economist predicts that it will be "high net worth investors" who will probably be the first to get their toes wet in any commercial real estate recovery.

But before the anticipated rise, says the economist, Mark Dotzour, there will come the deepening fall: He says real estate prices, rents and occupancy levels will all go further south.