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Real Estate Mogul Sam Zell: Recession Likely in the Next Year

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Equity Commonwealth Chairman Sam Zell

Hold on to your checkbooks—Sam Zell says the economy’s headed for a recession in the next 12 months.

With multinationals dumping workers and China’s economic slowdown, Sam says yesterday’s Fed rate hike came around six months too late.

He says “the strong dollar is having enormous impacts on US production and US businesses…they’re being competitively disadvantaged,” Bloomberg reports.

Sam has been chucking property like there’s no tomorrow. The billionaire’s REIT, Equity Residential, unloaded 20% of its portfolio in October for $5.4B. Another Zell fund, Equity Commonwealth, sold $1.7B with plans to reach $3B.

Sam says, with “pricing currently available in the commercial real estate market, it is very hard not to be a seller.”

Sam is scooping up energy assets though, which are running cheap due to rock bottom oil prices. [Bloomberg]