NAR July 2021 Commercial Market Insights

The apartment and industrial properties remain the most favored assets among the core property types. Apartment absorption rose at the strongest pace in a decade, with the median rent for vacant apartments rising at 18%. In the industrial property sector, the vacancy rate fell to 4.5% with consumers sustaining their ecommerce spending. The retail property market also rebounded, with acquisitions directed towards shopping centers (multi-tenants) than shops (single-tenant), Hotel acquisitions, while accounting for a smaller portion of the investment deals, were 200% above the level one year ago. One use for vacant hotels/motels is for multifamily housing. The office market remains the weakest property sector, suffering sustained occupancy losses in the second half, with a total negative net absorption of 170 million square feet since the pandemic and a vacancy rate of nearly 18%.