Economy Watch: Low Inflation Generally Positive for CRE
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the CPI was down 0.4 percent in December. That?s the steepest drop in that particular metric since 2008, which has seen modest increases during most months, and for most years has been staying under 2 percent, which happens to be the Fed?s target for inflation. There?s some argument about why inflation has been so persistently low, but at least one thing?s certain: the low interest rate policies pursued by central banks in most of the industrialized world haven?t stoked the fires inflation during a period of stagnation. This isn?t the ?70s… Read more »
Top 5 Predictions for Medical Office Real Estate in 2015
The ?retailization? of healthcare will continue to increase this year, according to executives at Revista, an Annapolis, Md.-based research firm that focuses on the medical real estate industry… Read more »
Crane Counts Show Multifamily Dominates
If you want to gauge how much construction is really taking place, count the cranes. That?s what Rider Levett Bucknall is doing with the launch of its North American RLB Crane Index. The new report measures construction activity in major cities across North America. The verdict of the inaugural edition: more cranes are on the horizon, and therefore so is the prospect of further growth… Read more »
Lots of Renters Balance Lots of New Apartments
Strong demand for apartments helped keep the percentage of vacant apartments low, even though developers finished many new apartments in 2014. ?We are getting to the point where net absorption and construction kind of level,? says Brad Doremus, an associate in the research and economics department at Reis Inc., a data firm based in New York City. The percent of apartments that were vacant stayed at 4.2 percent in the fourth quarter in the top 79 markets tracked by Reis. That?s the same as the vacancy rate in the third quarter and it?s up slightly from 4.1 percent the year before… Read more »
Arizona Economy: Elliott D. Pollack & Company
The good news continues. The CPI (even before food and energy prices) is below the Fed target and consumer confidence is strong. Despite this, retail sales were weaker than expected. That simply doesn’t fit. It is also possible that more consumer spending is going to services which isn?t included in the retail sales report. Other than that, everything else fits the picture of a healthy economy that would be in the boom portion of the cycle were it not for weakness in the construction (mainly housing) sector. That weakness will turn into strength only slowly. Enjoy what is going on. It is likely to be as good as it gets for the foreseeable future… Read more »