Commercial real estate executives are ready to leave 2009 behind and are looking to the new year with a mix of fear and optimism, CoStar Group reported.

Declining values and incomes, mounting and maturing debt, market stagnation, unemployment, unprecedented government spending and tenant concessions are among the chief concerns of commercial real estate executives as the year draws to a close.

However, industry executives and observers are also cautiously optimistic as they wait for the cycle to bottom out and transaction activity to pick up, and are pointing to the bright spots: real estate investment trusts proved to be more resilient than originally expected and investors have an opportunity to acquire bank-owned and underperforming or nonperforming assets at low prices.

Some hope that the recession’s fallout will include a return to fundamentals.

“The last month of the year has brought greater optimism, and the investors with whom we have relationships are preparing to underwrite and invest in 2010,” said Paul Arena, president of New York-based Venturi Capital Advisors Inc. “I’m further excited by a return to basics that we are witnessing — a move away from chasing vague or general opportunistic strategies, in favor of generous but realistic returns generated by specific, focused strategies.”

To read more about what most excites and most worries industry leaders going into 2010, click here.