WASHINGTON, April 10, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Although rising energy prices and fiscal debt issues for both domestic and foreign governments remain as clouds on the horizon, the U.S. commercial real estate market is in the midst of a continued recovery being led by the office and warehouse sectors, according to the latest research from CoStar Group.
CoStar, the commercial real estate industry's leading provider of information and analytic services, today released its national market research for the first quarter of 2012. The report showed that while net absorption slowed slightly compared to the last half of 2011, rent trends generally improved from prior quarters, supported by a lack of new space being added to the market.
"We may not be out of the woods just yet, but the data we've compiled for the first quarter certainly demonstrates an ongoing recovery and points towards future growth," stated Walter Page, Director of Research for CoStar's Property and Portfolio Research division. "While the retail recovery was less pronounced than in the office and warehouse sectors, we're witnessing positive net absorption across the board."
Office
In the first quarter of 2012, office markets witnessed solid net absorption, little new construction and near zero growth in asking rents.
"While the data shows near zero rent growth in the quarter, the national vacancy rate of 12.9%, combined with the prospect for future vacancy decline, suggests the scales are tipping toward generating office rent growth," Page said.
Nationally, office net absorption was at 11.5 million square feet — down from 16 million square feet in the fourth quarter of 2011, but more than double the pace from the first quarter of last year. New construction deliveries were exceptionally low at just 5 million square feet, although construction activity is starting to rise with over 8 million square feet of new office starts in the quarter. Of the top markets, all but Washington, DC, achieved a year-over-year decline in vacancy, indicating the broad base for the office market recovery.
For the third quarter in a row, net absorption was very solid, with Houston and Chicago leading the nation at 1.6 million square feet each. Washington, DC, with negative 421,000 square feet of net absorption, recorded the lowest level among the top metros.
Industrial
A sharp reduction in industrial vacancy, fueled by near zero net completions of space and positive net absorption, has supported steady to slightly rising asking rents.
In the first quarter, industrial vacancy fell to 9.4% nationally — down 0.7 percentage points from one year ago. The reduction in vacancy, which has supported a 1.5% annualized change in rent over the past quarter, was mainly driven by positive net absorption of 20.9 million square feet in the first quarter.
Of the largest U.S. warehouse markets, Chicago (2 million square feet), Los Angeles (1.8 million square feet), Inland Empire (1.8 million square feet) and Houston (1.2 million square feet) all exceeded 1 million square feet of net absorption. Together, these four metros accounted for a third of demand growth, which is 10% over the market share, as large box distribution markets continue to dominate new warehouse demand.
Indicating a broad-based recovery, nearly all top warehouse markets achieved occupancy gains compared to one year earlier, with the most significant being the Inland Empire's 2.6%age point gain.
Retail
While the retail recovery was less pronounced, the sector did achieve positive net absorption, a stable vacancy, and a near-stabilization of rent. For the first quarter, vacancy nationally was unchanged at 7%, compared to 7.3% one year earlier. Net absorption of 9.4 million square feet was below the 16.2 million square feet of the fourth quarter. Retail completions were exceptionally low at just 4.3 million square feet, with a Salt Lake City urban retail project being one of the largest deliveries this quarter.
"We forecast completions of retail space to remain depressed for the year," Page said. "In-process construction continues to fall compared to office and warehouse construction, which is rising slightly."
At the metro level, retail performance was more of a mixed bag than other property types, with few standout markets. For example, market rent over the past year ranged in a narrow band with most markets showing a -5% to +2% change, as the impact of housing market distress and Internet retailing has curtailed demand growth. For the quarter, roughly one-third of the markets recorded negative net absorption, suggesting that the retail recovery is still weak. Market vacancy rates range from 2.8% in San Francisco to 12.1% in Phoenix.
About PPR
Property and Portfolio Research (PPR) provides unparalleled expertise and objective thinking in analyzing and forecasting commercial real estate markets. PPR sets the pace in offering independent research, a unique set of analytic tools, and actionable insights to commercial real estate investors on hundreds of global markets in North America, the UK and Europe. Clients range from commercial banks and financial institutions to pension funds and insurance companies, as well as government and rating agencies.
With a dedicated commitment to providing the best in commercial real estate research, PPR's widely respected knowledge of the markets allows clients to stay ahead of market trends, act decisively, and feel confident about their investment decisions. PPR is a division of CoStar Group.
About CoStar Group, Inc.
CoStar Group (Nasdaq:CSGP) is commercial real estate's leading provider of information and analytic services. Founded in 1987, CoStar conducts expansive, ongoing research to produce and maintain the largest and most comprehensive database of commercial real estate information. Our suite of online services enables clients to analyze, interpret and gain unmatched insight on commercial property values, market conditions and current availabilities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, CoStar maintains offices throughout the U.S. and in Europe with a staff of approximately 1,500 worldwide, including the industry's largest professional research organization. For more information, visit www.costar.com.
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" including, without limitation, statements regarding CoStar's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. These statements are subject to many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. More information about potential factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those stated in CoStar's filings from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including CoStar's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, under the heading "Risk Factors." In addition to these statements, there can be no assurance that there will be a continued recovery of the U.S. commercial real estate market; that the U.S. commercial real estate market will experience future growth; that there will be future vacancy decline; that there will be office rent growth; that there will be a broad base for the commercial real estate market recovery or for any segment of the commercial real estate market; that industrial asking rents will increase; that completions of retail space will remain depressed for the year; that retail in-process construction will continue to fall compared to office and warehouse construction; that office and warehouse construction will continue to rise; and that the trends represented or implied in this release will continue. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to CoStar on the date hereof, and CoStar assumes no obligation to update such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.