Purchases of retail properties are "highly dependent on the CMBS market being open and functioning well," he said. "Right now, it's not functioning that well."
Stockpiles of loans for new deals have shrunk amid volatility that's increased since July as Europe's leaders struggled to stem the region's sovereign debt crisis. Bank of America Corp. cut its 2011 issuance forecast to $25 billion to $30 billion in August after predicting more than $40 billion in new sales.
Equity One Deal
Blackstone, the world's largest public-equity firm, has agreed to acquire additional shopping centers since the Centro deal. Last month, it said it would buy 36 retail properties, mostly anchored by grocery stores, from North Miami Beach, Florida-based Equity One Inc. for $473.1 million.
Brixmor's properties are 89 percent occupied, according to Carroll. That matches the U.S. average.
Vacancies at the country's shopping centers have risen as such local retailers as dry cleaners and restaurants go out of business and reduced access to capital prevents other stores from taking their place. In the third quarter, the vacancy rate at community and neighborhood centers was 11 percent, the highest since 1990, according Reis Inc., a New York-based real estate research company.
Kimco Realty Corp., a New Hyde Park, New York-based real estate investment trust, is the largest owner of community shopping centers with 946 properties in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and South America.