Market Data
Regional Outlook
South
Miami’s Big Deal
Miami’s hotel transaction volume
rose 154 percent in 2011, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, the strongest deal
volume since the peak year of 2005. Last year $557 million in hotel sales
closed. The largest, at $130 million, was the Royal Palm in Miami Beach bought
by KSL Capital Partners from Sunstone Collins. Miami Beach’s revenue per
available room grew 17.5 percent last year and is forecast to grow 12 percent
to 14 percent this year. It is also a major market for independent brands, with
more than 70 percent of the upper-tier rooms in independently owned hotels.
South
Aldi Expands to Houston
Houston is on track to add 30 Aldi outlets in the next
three years, according to the discount grocer. Ten of the no-frills stores will
open in the Houston area by spring 2013. Aldi stores average around 17,000 sf,
with at least 85 parking spaces, according to the company website, in community
shopping centers in trade areas of 35,000 or more. Because of its smaller
format, Aldi operates in a number of major urban metros such as New York and
Chicago where Walmart is still establishing a foothold. There are 1,200 Aldi stores in 32 states.
East
Lowest U.S. Industrial Vacancy, 1Q 2012
Westchester County, N.Y.
1Q12 6.0%
1Q11 9.4%
National
“The middle class
consumer has downsized. Shoppers who used to spend $50 for designer jeans at
The Gap are now spending $20 for house brand jeans at Target. This is shaping
retail growth and contraction.”
—Cassidy Turley, U.S. Retail
Report, May 2012
Midwest
West
Las Vegas Retail Holds Steady
Las Vegas’ retail vacancy rate has remained in the 10
percent range for the past 12 quarters, averaging 10.5 percent for 1Q12,
according to Applied Analysis research. Positive net absorption has continued
for three of the last four quarters, with 203,300 sf leased in 1Q12. Yes, they
are still building in the desert: 300,000 sf will come on line in 2013, and
another planned 4.3 msf is being actively marketed. Average asking rents fell
from $1.53 psf to $1.45 psf YOY, indicating “that landlords have become
increasingly aggressive in their efforts to attract tenants,” says Brian
Gordon, Principal of Applied Analysis. Overall, rents are down 34.1 percent
from the peak. Of product types, power centers are outperforming neighborhood
and community centers both in leasing and rents.
North
Canadian Housing Bubbles Up
Toronto has gone “condo crazy” according to Canada
Mortgage and Housing statistics. Overall housing starts jumped 14 percent in
April to 244,900, the highest number since September 2007, almost all of the
increase due to condo construction. In 1Q12, a record 84,698 units were on the
market and 338 projects were actively selling, according to research firm
Urbanation. But low interest rates, an influx of foreign buyers, and very high
single-family home prices are also fueling a condo buying boom, with more than
6,000 new condos sold in Toronto in 1Q12, the highest number ever recorded for
a first quarter. But some analysts estimate that 20 percent to 30 percent of
sales are to investors, increasing the fear of an unstable market. The average
1Q12 price was $519 psf, an increase of 8.1 percent YOY.