The GOOD...the telephone rings a lot more today than it did a year ago; leasing deals are getting done; SBA lending is available; Cash is available (stockpiling) on the sidelines and buyers are looking for (and finding) deals; pricing has mostly adjusted (good for buyers, bad for sellers); the panic of 4Q08 and 1Q09 has abated; the residential market appears to have stabilized and defaults are declining...

The BAD...the cash is sitting on the sidelines with extreme caution until the future picture is a little more certain; many commercial properties on the market today are now short sales and REO; there is still a wave of refinancing required from 2001-2005 acquisitions that is virtually impossible to obtain today;  unemployment remains stubbornly high, with little sign of quickly abating...

The UGLY...credit is not available on Main Street.  A recent conversation with a banker verified that they are making NO new credit extensions; though not in need of capital, they are selling high quality, performing loans to raise capital and improve their balance sheet further rather than earn a return; for a recent refinancing effort, I produced no less than 50 pdf files with 1,000s of pages of documentation; I know of 2 very successful mortgage loan brokers that recently left Bank of America because B of A's underwriting prevented doing deals...

I'm not sure what lies ahead but it is clear to me that we have a ways to go to return to any sort of normal economic environment.  
-Rick Longpre