Housing Market Update

From First Captial A Mortgage Company, an affliate of Coldwell Banker

Retail Real Estate Recovery Taking Hold: Now that residential real estate has bottomed and started to make some gains, commercial real estate is starting to pick up to. This is very important to your local housing market as a vibrant retail business always supports local housing demand. Vacancy rates and rents at U.S. neighborhood shopping centers improved for the second quarter in a row, further evidence the sector is moving toward recovery after years of weakness, real estate research firm Reis said on Friday. The retail real estate sector has been among the hardest hit in commercial property. At the mercy of consumer spending, the sector has reflected the diverse pressures and changes since the housing crisis began in 2007. The first quarter marked the first time in nearly seven years that average vacancy rates at strip malls fell, and that trend continued in the second quarter, Reis said, with the rate declining to 10.8 percent. While demand for space is weak, the firm said, new construction is even weaker. At the same time, asking rents rose 0.2 percent, up from a gain of 0.1 percent in the first three months of the year.

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