The huge spillage resulting from the April 20 explosion on a BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico still has not been stanched, and some observers fear the accident will have a severe effect on tourism and fishing industries in the region. But NAI commercial real estate professionals in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Texas believe the accident will not have a material long-term impact on commercial real estate markets in the Gulf Coast states.

As noted earlier, we believe that 3 million to 3.5 million jobs a year will be formed in each of the next three years. In fact, this is roughly the rate at which jobs have been added since March 2010. However, this rate of job creation must be viewed in the context of the nearly 8.4 million jobs lost during the recently concluded recession, and the 1.8 million jobs normally added annually to the U.S. economy.

The Corpus Christi economy suffered slightly from the economic downturn. The petrochemical industry is down, resulting in a decline in the local economy. However, the refineries and related industries are expanding and upgrading in anticipation of the pending increase in oil and gas exploration. The Port of Corpus Christi is doubling in size to meet future demand.

Last fall, we examined how the 2008 recession compared to the six recessions of the last 40 years. At that time we noted that today’s recession was the “least worst” of the seven episodes as of that time. Our updated analysis indicates that we are in the midst of the second-worst recessionary period of the last 40 years, and it is worsening quickly.

The Corpus Christi economy has not suffered significantly from the credit crisis. In Business Week Magazine, Corpus Christi was one of only two Texas cities listed in the recent article titled “Where to Live in Hard Times.”

The 2009 Global Market Report is a unique tool that reviews and summarizes the real estate activities of the past year on more than200 property markets worldwide. As a reference tool, it reviews values, economies, social factors and other conditions that impact a market.