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.
• Renter Retention, Renewals Rise in August by Les Shaver of Multifamily Executive.
Key Excerpt:
“More than half of all renters with expiring leases decided to renew in August. And, when they did, they paid, on average, a 5.4 percent increase in monthly rent, according to an MPF Research analysis of lease transaction data from Carrollton, Texas-based parent company RealPage. In all, 51.1 percent of the nation’s apartment renters whose leases were set to expire in August 2015 chose to renew, which was up 0.3 percentage points from August 2014. MPF says that was the largest increase for lease renewals in nearly 10 years.”
• Mobile wallets a hit with Millennials, young parents: Report by Shopping Centers Today.
Key Excerpt:
“Mobile wallets are changing how Millennial consumers use stores and shopping centers, and the commercial real industry should capitalize on the trend, according to a report from Coldwell Banker Commercial Affiliates. The real estate advisory network surveyed 2,000 U.S. consumers about their shopping habits and found that despite the growing popularity of e-commerce, a large subset of the population continues to prefer the in-store shopping experience.”
• The Great Outdoors: The Key to Success for Today’s Malls by Howard Wong for Globe St.
Key Excerpt:
“Mall owners and operators are beginning to understand that outdoor spaces deliver tremendous value when it comes to driving traffic and increasing length of stay. For this reason, many once-traditional indoor malls are being redeveloped and revitalized in order to add outdoor dining and socialization hubs where consumers can relax and spend time.”
• Forecasting the Rankings of Apartment Submarkets by Cara Phillips for Axiometrics Inc.
Key Excerpt:
“That western and southern markets and submarkets have the strongest annual effective-rent-growth rates is no surprise to anyone who follows apartment data. That geographic breakdown of strength is expected to continue for the rest of 2015 and into 2016. But three and five years down the road, Axiometrics estimates through its apartment market research that the machinery of the apartment cycle will bring several eastern and Midwestern apartment submarkets to the forefront.”
• Economy Watch: The Scoop on Upper-End CRE by Dees Stribling for Commercial Property Executive.
Key Excerpt:
“Low interest rates are still important to the continued growth of prices in the U.S. commercial real estate market, but they aren’t the only drivers. Along with the most recent CoStar Commercial Repeat Sale Indices, which were released on Friday, the company posited that upward price movements have also been possible recently because of strong market fundamentals and improving market liquidity. As of the end of July, the indices that the company calculates still showed growth in CRE prices, but the pace of growth slowed down slightly when comparing the average pace for the six months ending in June.”