The MIT Center for Real Estate updated the RCA-based commercial property index to provide a look at commercial real estate returns for the end of year 2006. Some numbers that you might find interesting are that commercial office property yielded an 11.9% return while retail yielded a paltry 4.4%.

With all the recent talk about the downfall of the residential real estate market and how the stock market may be a bit overweight, the study reflects my positive outlook towards commercial property as an investment for 2007 and beyond. And yes, the “surprise” in this post’s title is meant to be sarcastic…