CoStar, a premier provider of real estate information, now has the best series for commercial real estate sales volumes, as unlike others, it is not restricted to minimum price levels nor to specific types of ownership. For those not familiar with CoStar, the company is… Read more

After getting the results of commercial real estate’s annual physical, we can see how truly healthy that market is tracking. Fortunately for data purposes, The National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF), a non-profit trade association for tax-exempt investors (such as pension funds) in… Read more

Newton’s third law of motion states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So an increase in costs in one market will cause business to relocate to another. That is the premise on where companies locate if location is not a factor (such… Read more

Each quarter, Dr Glenn Mueller at Dividend Capital updates his outstanding report on commercial real estate market cycles. He addresses five separate commercial property types covering more than 50 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Property types include: Office Industrial Apartment Retail Hotel His defines four phases:… Read more

Jobs are everything to an economy. Period. Where ever jobs go, so goes the demand for housing. And where ever roof-tops go, so goes the demand for commercial real estate. The latest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) seasonally-adjusted employment data (as of September 2012), are compared… Read more

In the Mortgage Banker’s Daily news this week was a summary of very positive commercial real estate metrics. The article covered a wide array of data types and sources portending good gains year-over-year, with 52 percent of the indicators being positive last year while 85… Read more

The Mortgage Bankers Association each quarter publishes a phenomenal report delineating lending statistics and an array of related data. A summary article of their findings can be viewed at the Mortgage Bankers website. Included in their findings: Commercial lending (including multifamily) was up 25 percent… Read more

Demand for office properties is a function of how many jobs require office space. Job growth and changes in how business is done (think telecommuting here) impacts the demand for offices and ultimately rents and returns. As much as the job market volatility creates ebbs… Read more

Demand for retail real estate is a pure function of how much consumers are spending. Period. The following graph shows total U.S. retail and food service spending in real terms (adjusted for inflation). Although retail sales have yet to reach the peak seen prior to… Read more

Since many will be heading out the door this afternoon to enjoy a three-day weekend, let’s talk about hotel property performance, the third installment in the commercial real estate returns series. So where do we get the data? The National Council of Real Estate Investment… Read more