Question-and-Answer Session
Thank you, sir. [Operator Instructions]. And our first question comes from the line of Michael Bilerman with Citi. Please go ahead.
Michael Bilerman – Citi
Hi guys [inaudible] with me as well. Just a quick question on the marked-to-market, you talked about it sequentially going down about 400 basis points, but I know we are mixing in that in a bunch of different things. But Jordan you talked about rents in your market sequentially actually being up and at least the leases that you signed in the quarter had cash rent spreads of 21%. So I am just trying to figure out if you have lowered your asking rents or if you have? or market rents really not up for that spread scenario?
Jordan L. Kaplan – President and Chief Executive Officer
Well, market rents? first of all, I have never been in love with that metric, but the bottom line is that first you have got the rents that are rolling of being from a peer, you know being from a later and later period where rents were stronger. So you are making a comparison that doesn’t that’s still in both by the beginning rent, the rent from the old lease and then we are asking rents and so that would naturally narrow as it moves forward.
The question is to where the rents were generally moving up on March. I think they are, the zestful of movements it’s really hard to tell. I mean you can anecdotally point to leases where you say look rents are going up and you can anecdotally point to leases where they’re flat. And I don’t' think there is a long enough trend to really make a statement that they are absolutely flat or they are absolutely still going up. They have certainly slowed down their pace.
Michael Bilerman – Citi
Right. But thinking about 400 basis points sequential decline in your mark-to-market, that’s a pretty dramatic decline in one quarter when you talked about rents being flattish and even the lease that you signed, it shouldn’t cause that much of a decline?
William Kamer – Chief Financial Officer
Mike, this is Bill. One of the things that has been noted is the metrics that we are using on deal signed during the first quarter, it’s heavily depended on the mix of transaction. So the actual leases that we are rolling off of the particular deal and the mix across various sub markets. So that number is going to tend to bounce around and I think we should expect that it will continue to bounce around as we go forward.
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