Property Types Retail
Boston Retail Market Expected to Remain Strong
June 25, 2008

While the Boston retail market has remained fairly stable during the past year, slowing housing market conditions and cooling employment are beginning to weaken consumer spending, according to a second-quarter Retail Research Report by Marcus & Millichap. Core retail properties are expected to remain stable investments this year. Some of the most significant aspects of the report are:

·         Local employers are forecast to add 12,200 positions in 2008, an increase of 0.6 percent.

·         Developers are expected to construct 2.1 million square feet of new retail space this year, compared with 1.9 million square feet in 2007.

·         Vacancy is projected to end the year at 5.8 percent.

·         Asking rents are predicted to increase 1.5 percent to $21.88 per square foot.

·         Effective rents will rise 1.4 percent to $20.47 per square foot.

 
Recent Retail Headlines
Dollar Retailing Seeing Good Times
The Dow Jones index took something of a dive yesterday, possibly because of ill tidings from the likes of Time Warner and Intel, or the anticipation of bad job market numbers, or maybe because it was time to yo-yo back to roughly where the market started at the beginning of the year. In any case, the Dow was down 245.40 points, or 2.72 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 3 percent exactly and the Nasdaq lost 3.23 percent.
Cushman Report: Even Manhattan Humbled in 2008 
After a steep decline in office rents and leasing activity at the end of 2008, many owners are attempting to lure tenants with aggressive deals, according to Cushman & Wakefield Inc.’s year-end report on the Manhattan office market.
The News: Holiday Fallout, Public Confidence, Debt Loom
Now that 2008 is mercifully behind the retail sector, the question of what should be on the radar for 2009 is front and center. Conversations with industry veterans and research suggest that consumer spending, the economic policies of the new president and Congress, and fallout from the holiday shopping season will shape the retail sector for at least the early part of the year.
Ken Riggs The Expert: Structural Shift on the Way
Projections that fourth-quarter-2008 holiday retail sales would usher in despair not seen since the Great Depression had everyone on pins and needles. Although November reports indicated that seasonally-adjusted retail sales, excluding automobiles, were down slightly more than 4 percent from year-ago sales, recent figures from the International Council of Shopping Centers show December comparable store sales to have declined by only 1 to 1.8 percent. From some of the pre-December sales-report jitters, I would not have been surprised to see retail spending fall 10 percent as 2008 came to a close!
No Bottom Yet for Residential Market
Despite poor consumer confidence and sour housing numbers, U.S. equity markets had a fairly positive day Tuesday, with the Dow Jones index ending up 184.46 points, or about 2.17 percent, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq up 2.44 percent and 2.67 percent, respectively.