CONSTRUCTION
Year-over-year, as of August 2021, 4.4 million sq. ft. of office space was under construction in the Houston metro. The majority of the projects delivering this year were started pre-Covid-19, in a much different office environment where remote work wasn’t uncommon, but not to the level of saturation it is today because of the pandemic.

VACANCY
The vacancy rate at 25.1% is expected to rise as supply continues to deliver in an atmosphere where leasing activity hasn’t come back to pre-pandemic levels. Overall office net absorption has remained negative, expanding further into the red at 3.4 million sq. ft. so far this year.

LEASING
Even with tenant commitments in place from preleasing efforts, a lot of space will hit the market in the next 12 to 24 months. Recent market activity and deal announcements have been encouraging; however, the spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant has led many companies to reconsider their office re-openings, and the continued future uncertainty could severely hamper any recent gains. We are literally living in a “wait-and-see” environment, making it extremely difficult to predict near-term or long-term trends. Click to read more at www.naipartners.com.

Challenges facing the healthcare supply chain were thrust into the spotlight in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and escalated at a rapid pace. Effective and timely sourcing of sufficient crucial items including personal protective equipment (PPE), sanitizer and ventilators became a critical problem for hospitals and healthcare systems.

In this paper we examine the lessons learned from last year’s crisis and look at recommendations for supply chain management that could effectively control inventories while containing costs and producing optimal clinical outcomes.

Furthermore, in addition to defining a framework for improving supply chain structures and performance, we will also consider the increasing role of technology and automation together with trends in logistics and inventory management. Click to read more and download the report at www.colliers.com.

‘Six of the top ten fastest-growing counties in the U.S. are here in the Lone Star State. There is no better time to purchase Texas property than right now…’

HOUSTON, July 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — White Commercial Real Estate (WCRE) highlighted its unique role helping investors capitalize on the resurgence of the Texas economy, recently featured in a glowing public assessment by Texas governor, Greg Abbott. As the 9th largest economy in the world by GDP, Texas remains positioned for more economic expansion over the next five years, based on strong employment and income growth forecasts. Much of this is due to a healthy pro-business atmosphere fostered by the state, along with being the home base for 100 of the 1000 largest public and private companies in the U.S. Experienced and exclusive boutique real estate firms like WCRE, with strong roots in the area, are the surest way for property investors to seize upon the recent Texas economic upsurge. Click to read more at www.prnewswire.com

As COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted across the United States, will consumers return to in-person shopping? The answer might depend on what kind of shopping consumers are doing.

Lucidworks, a San Francisco-based provider of software and cloud technology, recently surveyed 800 consumers in the United States and U.K. about their shopping behavior. The survey results indicate that the pandemic might have given online shopping yet another boost.

According to the survey, a third of U.S. respondents said that they plan to avoid in-person shopping as much as possible, even as pandemic-related restrictions are lifted. An additional 31 percent of U.S. respondents said that they plan to visit in-person stores less often than they did before COVID-19.

There are certain types of shopping, though, that consumers are more likely to do in-person. Lucidworks said that while 65 percent of shoppers across the United States and U.K. currently buy at least some of their groceries online to have them delivered, 63 percent said that they plan to primarily buy their groceries in person as restrictions lift.

Compare that, though, to the electronics category. Lucidworks found that more than one-half of respondents said they currently order electronics online, and only 35 percent plan to purchase electronics primarily in-person as COVID restrictions are dropped.

But how can retailers best convince shoppers to make a purchase, whether these consumers are buying online or in-person? According to the survey, product recommendations — positive reviews posted on a company’s website or on sites such as Amazon or Walmart — are key.

Lucidworks’ survey says that 85 percent of U.S. shoppers interact with product recommendations always or often. Even more impressive, two-thirds of U.S. respondents said that either every visit to an e-commerce site or often they buy recommended items that they didn’t initially plan to purchase.

A total of 68 percent of U.S. shoppers said they prefer to do research on products by reading reviews on a company’s website. Almost half of all U.S. shoppers said they research by reading reviews at third-party marketplaces like Amazon, Google Shopping and eBay.

And what about safety measures? Do consumers want COVID-era protocols to remain in place as the pandemic eases?

Again, that depends. According to the Lucidworks survey, most shoppers in the United States and U.K. want stores to operate largely as they did before the pandemic hit. But they also want retailers to retain some COVID safety measures, including physically distanced lines and contactless payments.

“The shopper inhabits multiple personas,” said Peter Curran, general manager of digital commerce for Lucidworks, in a written statement. “To create a great customer experience, you have to understand the consumer’s goal in the moment. The ability to harness first-party data and in-session inferences are the keys to delivering a great experience. Brands must connect the dots between all of the actions a shopper takes to understand their goal and deliver the most relevant experience from research, to purchase, to support and back.”

Green Street’s Real Estate Alert reports that nonperforming commercial real estate debt on the biggest banks’ balance sheets doubled last year but remains a sliver of total holdings — dashing hopes of a buying spree for opportunistic investors, at least for now. Amid the downturn sparked by the pandemic last year, non-performing loans made up 0.86% of the commercial mortgages on the balance sheets of the 325 largest U.S. banks at yearend, up from 0.41% a year earlier, according to regulatory data compiled by Trepp Bank Navigator. The figure has remained below 1% since 2015 and is a fraction of the all-time peak of 8.6% hit in 2010. The low levels of bad debt are due in part to a host of forbearance measures implemented to assuage the effects of shutdowns enacted to curb the virus’s spread. As those accommodations expire, however, the level of troubled debt is expected to tick higher, stoking optimism that more distressed opportunities could shake loose down the road. All told, the top banks have just $15.4 billion of nonperforming loans on their books. There is another $2.1 billion of foreclosed properties, but 20% of that total belongs to just one regional bank in Texas focused on distressed loans. Meanwhile, hundreds of billions of dollars have been raised for opportunistic and distressed investing — drastically skewing the supply-demand curve and helping support property values. Click to read more at www.greenstreet.com.