Ask J.P. Weigand & Sons president Roger Weast what 2010 holds for Wichita real estate and he laughs.

That's because the face of residential and commercial real estate in the city is in flux. A struggling economy is shaking out residential brokerages, and commercial deals are drying up, pinched by tight credit.

Weast, the former Lusk Communities developer who's run Weigand for almost two years, expects the city's residential real estate companies to continue consolidating next year.

And he's holding out hope that credit markets will loosen to breathe some life into a badly slowing commercial market.

"Obviously, developments and homes got a lot tougher over the last year, and that's too bad," Weast said.

Residential home sales have improved a little in Wichita, but there are storm clouds hanging over commercial real estate with no credit to be had. Do you see home sales as the growth opportunity for 2010?

"The commercial has obviously been off, and I expect it will be this coming year, too. There's not a lot of credit out there, and it's been the same problem for new homes. Speculative loans are so difficult to come by and regulations are so tough.

"Lenders are just unable to make those speculative loans. We've had a decent commercial year. It's obviously off, and I hope we can count on it hopefully improving by the latter part of next year.

"Lending is the concern, for everybody."

You joined Weigand at a time when the city has implemented an aggressive strategy to revitalize downtown. What commercial opportunities do you see for Weigand in that project?

"We've got 25 or so of the top commercial agents in the city and some property downtown.

"I think it's absolutely an opportunity for our commercial people to go to work. We've got the arena coming on that will spur activity in the commercial sector.

"I know that WaterWalk was recently listed with another firm, but there will be some opportunity there for everyone. Marlin (Penner, NAI John T. Arnold president, representing WaterWalk's commercial property) will be in our sales meeting next Tuesday, and we're anxious to talk with him about the opportunities there.

"There's a lot of partners involved downtown, a lot of places to play in this."

What are the major challenges that your company will face next year in the real estate markets?

"The economy, for sure, it's difficult. I think we need continued positive reinforcement, you know, because the national news in some instances is improving.

"We need to get employment back up. Somewhat of a psychological boost.

"And liquidity. We need a liquidity boost in the credit markets in the worst way to make spec loans, home loans, speeding the entire process up."

What about internally with Weigand?

"We've made strides in marketshare, and I expect that as things continue to improve economically we should continue that and it will hopefully be a snowball effect.

"I think there will be some continued residential (brokerage) consolidation in 2010, driven again by the sheer tightness of the market. We certainly do approach 2010, thus, as a growth year in that kind of market."

With almost two years under your belt at Weigand, what have you found out about this company that you didn't expect?

"I had a very high regard for Weigand, but I truly didn't have any idea how great a company this is until I got here.

"Just in every way. The work ethic. The integrity. All the people, just great people. And it starts at the top with Nestor and Mike, the tone they set. A hundred and seven years later, it's just pretty impressive."