Reuters reported at the end of the third quarter last year that the office vacancy rate had remained flat at around 16% for three straight quarters. Experts have predicted that the office market will continue to remain generally flat throughout 2018. Yet despite those numbers, there are cities that are really thriving and we found 10 where the office market is not flat but rather booming with low vacancies and high demand.
Ten years ago, the industry barely existed. Today it is a multibillion industry in the U.S., raising nearly $20 billion over the last three years. Although the majority of the top financial technology or “FinTech” startups are small business and individual lenders, blockchain and cryptocurrency companies, and data analytics firms, there are several FinTech startups that are impacting CRE.
Last year, we reported on a trend happening in Asia that is finding its way to the U.S. and that is the shipping container building movement. Now as retail looks for ways to get back into brick-and-mortar and for a reprieve from struggling malls, could U.S. airports be the next big win in retail?
Last month, President Trump gave his first State of the Union Address. In it, he renewed his talk of a massive infrastructure bill to improve the nation’s roads and bridges. Using a strategy of private-public partnerships, if this bill comes to fruition, it could have a big impact on some the states with the worst infrastructure in the country while providing huge opportunities for CRE investors.
Vacancy rates are at all time lows. Absorption rates are at their highest and the “industrial sector has outperformed all other property types with double-digit total returns” according to the Integra Realty Resources 25th annual Viewpoint report covering the commercial real estate industry.
Spring may be coming early this year which is a good sign you should start dusting off your social media presence a little early this spring too. If you’ve let your social media channels die off over the last few months, it’s time for a refresh. Here are some of our top tips for springing into social media this spring.
A lot has been made about the in-store shopping trends we are seeing in retail. What has largely been overlooked are the shipping trends shaping the retail landscape this year. Consumers continue to expect faster deliveries for free which is putting enormous stress on the last mile for retailers.
Fallout from the housing collapse a decade ago resulted in a surge in the renter population–outpacing homeownership for the first time in history. It also marked a return to cities where more walkability with access to public transportation offered a much more affordable lifestyle for a population struggling to maintain in the midst of the economic collapse.
Of all of the innovations sweeping through CRE this year, perhaps no sector is expecting to see a bigger wave of change than the hotel space. Like all other sectors of the CRE industry, technology is at the heart of these changes. In hospitality, innovation is geared toward creating futuristic Jetson-style customer service that anticipates guests’ needs and wants.
Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence (AR and AI) may still be far from standard in CRE, but it’s only a matter of time. High end firms have already been using these tech tools on a grand scale. Research by Goldman Sachs estimates that by 2025, virtual reality (VR) technology alone will generate over $2.5 billion in revenue. Change is happening now and could hit sooner than many of us believe, leaving some CRE pros behind and pushing others to the forefront.