Each Wednesday, The Wrap presents a compilation of recent noteworthy commercial real estate stories from a variety of publications. Below are links to five stories that caught our eyes in recent days.
• Retailers Struggle To Find Balance Between Expanding Online or Opening More Stores by Mark Heschmeyer of CoStar.
Key excerpt:
“Retailers are spending an enormous amount of money, energy and time to improve their omnichannel sales capabilities. Despite these significant investments, only 16 percent of companies say they can fulfill omnichannel demand profitably today, according to a new survey conducted by PwC for JDA Software, which supplies supply chain and retail store operations management solutions to the retail industry.”
•MBA: Commercial, multifamily delinquencies keep dropping by Brena Swanson of HousingWire.
Key excerpt:
“‘Commercial and multifamily mortgage performance continues to improve. Increasing property incomes, rising property values and a strong finance market are working together to push delinquency rates lower,’ said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial real estate research.”
•Economy Watch: Construction Bounces Back by Dees Stribling of Multi-Housing News.
Key excerpt:
“In fact, certain categories of commercial property spending are still strong, especially the office and lodging sectors. Compared with a year ago, spending on office projects was up 19.3 percent in April for the year (and 3.7 percent for the month).”
•Multifamily Developers Favor Downtown, But Suburbia Holds Its Own by Brad Doremus and Victor Calanog of NREI.
Key excerpt:
“These results may give pause to those who have invested heavily in urban multifamily markets. The downward trend in homeownership and the popularity of city life among Millennials appear to back up the claims of CBD optimists. … Yet it is always dangerous to assume that recent trends will persist into the future. The oldest of the Millennials are now hitting their mid-30s and having serious discussions about starting a family. Renting in an urban area may be preferable now, but the lure of better public school systems, affordability and more living space may pull Millennials to suburban areas.”
•May Issue: E Pluribus Retail by Paula Rosta of Commercial Property Executive.
Key excerpt:
“That represents both a remarkable challenge and a remarkable opportunity for retail real estate investors, developers, advisors and retailers themselves: How to serve a population that is getting younger and more diverse. And it also reflects untapped opportunity that often seems to hide in plain sight.”