Commercial Real Estate & Business News – January 18, 2024

Despite inflation and high interest rates, consumers ramped up their spending in December, helping to end the holiday season and full year on an upbeat note. Core retail sales during the 2023 holiday season grew 3.8% over 2022 to a record $964.4 billion, according to U.S. Census…»

Under the basic understanding of economics and the relationship between supply and demand, there comes a time when more inventory means less money. Customers can have their pick; competitors come to a point where they start lowering prices. Pricing power gets harder to come…»

On Oct. 26, American Battery Factory (ABF) broke ground on its 2-million-square-foot gigafactory in Pima County’s Aerospace Research Campus located south of the Tucson International Airport and near world-class companies such as Raytheon. Situated on 267 acres, ABF plans to build…»

The barriers to building affordable housing can sometimes start even before a plot of land is chosen. “When you look at most cities’ general plan maps, you will see almost no multifamily-zoned land,” said Dan Klocke, development project manager for affordable housing developer Gorman…»

After a year marked by volatile — and frequently high — mortgage rates, little inventory and affordability issues that sidelined many buyers, the 2024 housing market outlook offers more of the same, albeit with some relief. Housing economists vary somewhat on their assessments of what’s to come in…»