Real Estate Roundtable Urges Policymakers to Break the Impasse on the Debt Ceiling and Government Funding

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Real Estate Roundtable's President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer issued the following statement today:

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"The Real Estate Roundtable urges policymakers to meet immediately to agree on a path forward to increase the debt ceiling and fund the ongoing government operations.  

The current impasse in Washington, particularly regarding the debt ceiling, threatens to destabilize global financial markets and rapidly push up interest rates –  actions that would raise commercial and residential mortgage refinancing costs, discourage new development and redevelopment projects, and further slow job creation. 

In short, the nascent recovery in our nation's economy and real estate markets is clearly in jeopardy.

U.S. Treasury securities are the foundation of the world's financial system. Any failure by the U.S. to honor its debt obligations would damage the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency.  Experts say that this could lead to a major financial collapse that could harm our economy for years to come.  We simply cannot afford to risk international confidence in the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury.  The failure of policymakers to address this critical issue is creating broad economic uncertainty -- delaying transactions, impeding investment and slowing the creation of new jobs. Real estate and related activity constitutes more than 20 percent of US GDP.  Sustaining and strengthening a broad based real estate recovery should continue to be a top priority for our nation.

We urge policymakers to act immediately to find a path forward."

The Real Estate Roundtable brings together leaders of the nation's publicly-held and privately owned real estate ownership, development, lending and management firms with the leaders of national real estate trade associations to jointly address key national policy issues relating to real estate and the overall economy. Collectively, Roundtable members' portfolios contain over 12 billion square feet of office, retail and industrial properties valued at more than $1 trillion; over 1.5 million apartment units; and in excess of 2.5 million hotel rooms.  Participating trade associations represent more than 1.5 million people involved in virtually every aspect of the real estate business.

SOURCE The Real Estate Roundtable