Battle of the market reports
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Costar runs highlights today of retail market reports from Grubb and Ellis, Torto Wheaton, ICSC, Marcus and Millichap, plus their own data.
As usual, looking for a story, the report paints a bleak headline ( “…bleak picture for 2008″).
The facts paint a different picture:
-”The U.S. retail vacancy rate stood at 6.6% at the close of fourth quarter 2007, varying only slightly throughout the year.”
-”During 2007, 111.8 million square feet of retail space net absorption was recorded, a significant improvement over 2006 net absorption of 58.6 million square feet.”
-”The average quoted asking rental rate in the U.S. has increased at a fairly steady pace over the last two years, creeping up 13.8% from $15.47-per-square-foot in first quarter 2006 to the current rate of $17.61-per-square-foot.”
-Grubb & Ellis predicts buyers will “return to the investment market in greater numbers” in 2008.
I’ll believe the gloom and doom when I see it.
