Association’s latest commercial real estate report released during inaugural C5 Commercial Real Estate Summit in New York City

Key Highlights

Half of the top 10 commercial office markets are in Florida (Daytona Beach, Miami, Palm Beach) and Texas (Austin, San Antonio). Boise, Chattanooga, Myrtle Beach, Omaha and Provo round out the list. Since the second quarter of 2020, vacancy rates have declined for apartments/multifamily, industrial and retail properties. Compared to one year ago, asking rents climbed for apartments/multifamily (11%), industrial (7%) and retail (2%) properties, but declined for office properties (-0.4%).

The National Association of Realtors® identified the top 10 commercial office markets as of the third quarter of 2021 in its monthly Commercial Market Insights report released Monday. In alphabetical order, the markets are as follows:

Austin, Texas
Boise, Idaho
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Daytona Beach, Florida
Miami, Florida
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Omaha, Nebraska
Palm Beach, Florida
Provo, Utah
San Antonio, Texas

NAR analyzed 390 commercial real estate markets and found a robust recovery with positive net absorption and strengthening rents across the multifamily, industrial and retail property markets as economic production rebounds to pre-pandemic levels. The apartment and industrial sectors, specifically, are reporting historically low vacancy rates, while retail has undergone a more gradual recovery as consumers continue their return to brick-and-mortar shopping. Click to read more at www.globenewswire.com.

Wellness real estate has been seeing double-digit growth in recent years, even during the pandemic. All 10 international markets saw that level of expansion in the three years prior to Covid-19’s onslaught, according to the nonprofit Global Wellness Institute, which held its Wellness Real Estate and Communities Symposium this week in New York.

“The pandemic fueled the shift in the real estate and construction industries toward wellness: from 2019-2020, wellness real estate continued to grow by over 22%, even as overall construction shrank,” the organization reported. GWI defines wellness real estate as commercial, institutional and residential properties that incorporate wellness elements in their architecture and amenities.

Participants and presenters during the symposium all defined the wellness real estate market as a continuing opportunity, driven in part from lessons learned during COVID. Doctors, architects and wellness professionals have come together to “introduce preventive medicine intentions” into the way we design the built environment “as a preventative medicine tool,” shared presenter and sponsor Paul Scialla, CEO of wellness technology firm Delos. Click to read more at www.forbes.com.

This month, we are celebrating women in commercial real estate. REDnews connected with some female CRE leaders to gain insight into their successes and get their lessons for future generations.

“All of those organizations have a meaningful purpose,” says Lucy Billingsly, founder of Billingsley Company. “When you’re in smaller groups, I think you can learn a great deal.”

One popular organization, which now boasts more than 12,000 members nationwide, is CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women).

“CREW is an investment in yourself and others, and the payback comes from your engagement and connections,” says Barbi Reuter, CREW’s 2021 president-elect. “There’s stellar career and professional growth for early and mid-career professionals.”

Reuter, CEO & principal with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR in southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, says her involvement with CREW afforded her many opportunities, which are also there for anyone who avails themselves.

“I had a chance to lead my Tucson chapter and build leadership skills, connect with brilliant professionals in multiple disciplines and markets, and be mentored when I needed it the most,” Reuter says. “At one turning point in my career, my CREW mentor guided me to quantify and sell my value at a time when my partners didn’t understand what I did and why it was important. Women often expect others to recognize their achievements and are raised not to toot their own horns. We’ve got to stand up for ourselves and each other.”

Networking, points out Meyer-Nelson, is vital to anyone’s success. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.

Last week data on two important indicators confirmed long-held beliefs that we have repeatedly asserted throughout the year. First, inflation readings through August continued to moderate, supporting our view that inflation would decelerate this year, even as it remained above levels from the last business cycle. Second, consumers spent at a healthy pace during August, supporting our view that consumers would remain resilient throughout 2021 and that nominal advance retail sales would set a calendar-year growth record this year. And while those two things might superficially seem contradictory, they hold with our view of an economy that is gradually managing its way through the release of pent-up demand and supply-side disruptions.

Inflation Decelerating

We have consistently held the view that inflation would subside, not rise to levels like those from the 1970s, but rather settle into a range above that from the last business cycle. Through August we see little if any reason to alter that outlook. In August the headline consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.3% – robust, but below expectations and well below the rate from recent months. Meanwhile, the core CPI grew by only 0.1%, meaningfully below expectations and the lowest reading since February. Why is inflation starting to ease when many thought it would remain elevated? Three key reasons:

Pent-up demand has eased over time and is subsiding as it does, returning spending to healthy but more normalized levels. Even high prices themselves are helping this process by dissuading some consumers from purchasing goods and services at elevated prices. Click to read more at www.am.jll.com.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk helped St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital reach its $200 million fundraising goal.

Musk pledged $50 million in response to a public call for donations following the successful splashdown of the SpaceX Dragon capsule.

Billionaire Jared Isaacman personally financed the Inspiration4 mission as a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Hayley Arceneaux, a childhood cancer survivor who now works for the hospital, joined him on the three-day space tourism mission.

The crew will continue fundraising for the children’s hospital by auctioning off some of the items they took into space, including signed collectibles. Click to read more at www.kktv.com.