Market Reports

The Institutionalization of Charlotte’s Retail Sector

by John Nelson July 27, 2026

Years of nation-leading population growth, a robust job market and rising household incomes have propelled Charlotte retail onto the national stage as a major target for institutional and private investors alike. The market is now operating at a premium, with average asking rents surpassing the national average for the first time on record in late 2025 after rising more than 30 percent over the past five years, according to data from CoStar Group Inc. That milestone says a lot about how far the market has come, but it also points to where it is headed.The next phase of Charlotte retail will not be defined by growth alone. It will be defined by having the right tenant in the right format serving the right trade area. The strongest corridors continue to command attention from retailers and investors alike, while rising occupancy costs are forcing every deal to stand on stronger fundamentals. For owners, tenants and capital sources, that dynamic makes Charlotte one of the Southeast’s most compelling retail markets, but also one of its most nuanced. The new retail map Charlotte gained 20,731 residents between 2024 and 2025, ranking among the fastest-growing major cities in the country, according to the U.S. …

July 27, 2026

Market Reports North Carolina Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Charlotte’s Office Market Picks Up in 2026 as Activity Accelerates

by John Nelson July 20, 2026

The story in Charlotte’s office market today is a continuation of what began to take shape last year — only now, the activity behind it is real and measurable. The tenants that were cautiously exploring the market in 2024 have re-engaged, and many are now making decisions with greater clarity around their long-term space needs. Leasing volume reflects that shift. Activity reached roughly 1.4 million square feet in the first quarter of 2026, a significant increase year-over-year, with the majority of deals driven by new leases and expansions. That’s been the biggest change over the past 12 months: groups that were once on the sidelines are now moving forward, and deal velocity is picking up across multiple industries. At the same time, demand remains highly focused on quality. Class A buildings continue to capture most of the leasing activity, accounting for nearly 70 percent of total volume and leading overall absorption, which approached 400,000 square feet in first-quarter 2026. The best-performing assets in Uptown, Midtown and South Park are seeing steady occupancy gains, with rents at the top of the market pushing into the high-$50s per square foot. That said, the conversation around quality is becoming more nuanced. While top-tier …

July 20, 2026

Hospitality Market Reports North Carolina Office Restaurant Retail Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Western North Carolina Is Changed, But Not Broken, Following Hurricane Helene

by John Nelson July 13, 2026

Hurricane Helene was not a modest disruption. It was a disaster of historic scale. The North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management estimated total damage and recovery needs at $59.6 billion as of Dec. 2024, including damage to more than 73,000 homes, more than 100 confirmed deaths in North Carolina and a federal disaster declaration covering 39 counties. As a broker in Western North Carolina (WNC), I am often asked why the commercial real estate market has remained as strong as it has. The answer is not that the market avoided pain. It did not. The answer is that a tightly supplied market behaves very differently from a soft market after a disaster. In WNC, Hurricane Helene did not expose oversupply. It exposed scarcity. Before Helene, the Asheville-area commercial market already had very little slack. In NAI Beverly-Hanks’ second-quarter 2024 Asheville MSA commercial market report, CoStar Group-derived vacancy stood at 5.3 percent for industrial, 2.8 percent for office and 1.6 percent for retail. Earlier 2024 reporting from the same source showed similarly constrained conditions, reinforcing the same point: this was already a tight market before the storm arrived. A familiar recovery pattern That pre-storm scarcity shaped the recovery pattern. …

July 13, 2026

Market Reports North Carolina Restaurant Retail Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Scarcity Shapes Strategy: How Tight Vacancy Is Redefining Retail in Raleigh

by John Nelson March 2, 2026

If there is one defining characteristic of the Raleigh-Durham retail market today, it is scarcity. Exceptionally low vacancy — especially in high-quality, well-located centers — has become the norm rather than the exception, fundamentally reshaping leasing dynamics, rent growth and development strategy across the region. As of third-quarter 2025, overall retail vacancy in Raleigh-Durham stood at approximately 2.4 percent, marking four consecutive years below the 3 percent threshold. Even more telling, spaces under 10,000 square feet posted vacancy closer to 1.8 percent, underscoring just how competitive conditions have become for local and regional tenants. This imbalance between demand and supply has placed landlords in a position of sustained leverage, particularly in grocery-anchored centers, strong neighborhood and lifestyle shopping centers or mixed-use environments. Low vacancy matters because it drives outcomes. Lease-ups are happening faster, concessions are increasingly rare in top trade areas and rents continue to trend upward. For tenants, especially those seeking smaller footprints, waiting to engage often means missing opportunities altogether. For owners, the market rewards proactive asset management and disciplined tenant selection. A clear example of this dynamic is Olde Raleigh Village, a grocery-anchored community shopping center that is currently 100 percent leased. With no vacancy to contend …

March 2, 2026

Market Reports North Carolina Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Has the Raleigh-Durham Office Market Hit Rock Bottom?

by John Nelson February 23, 2026

The Raleigh/Durham office market is not yet in full recovery mode; however, the latest data suggests something just as important: stabilization. Compared to many U.S. office markets still experiencing significant stress, Raleigh-Durham is holding its ground — and in several respects, outperforming national trends. Currently, the combined Raleigh-Durham office market totals approximately 118.7 million square feet, with Raleigh making up roughly two-thirds of the inventory and Durham the remainder. Together, they form one of the Southeast’s most dynamic and resilient office regions. Vacancy elevated, improving While higher than pre-pandemic norms, vacancy is trending better than many peer markets. Raleigh’s vacancy rate currently sits around 11.1 percent, while Durham’s vacancy rate is approximately 9.8 percent, according to research from CoStar Group. Combined, this market boasts a blended office vacancy rate of roughly 10.7 percent, well below the 14.1 percent national average. Over the past 12 months, Raleigh recorded positive net absorption of approximately 574,000 square feet, while Durham experienced negative absorption of about 480,000 square feet. Combined, the market landed near equilibrium, which sends an encouraging signal that the market is no longer sliding backward, even if growth remains uneven. The area’s post-pandemic growth is shaped by hybrid work models, changing …

February 23, 2026

Industrial Market Reports North Carolina Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Strong Industrial Fundamentals, Smart Supply Fuel Momentum in the Triangle

by John Nelson February 16, 2026

The Triangle’s industrial market continues to hold strong fundamentals heading into the new year. A disciplined construction pipeline, low vacancy and high absorption fuel the market’s steady success. Disciplined constructionIndustrial developers have been incredibly disciplined when delivering new product to the Raleigh-Durham market, which has kept vacancy below 7 percent — a significantly stronger rate than peer Sun Belt markets as a result of record levels of development in recent years. With absorption rates in the Triangle averaging nearly 3 million square feet per year in the past five years, this healthy rate of delivery and absorption has propped up the region’s industrial market. That being said, the Raleigh-Durham market infill land supply has its limitations. Industrial-zoned land is difficult to find and acquisition costs are pushing $500,000 per acre in some submarkets, and rezoning is a lengthy 12-month or longer process. For these projects to be financially viable, developers have been increasing rents year-over-year to an average of over $12 per square foot across all submarkets, up from roughly $6 just five years ago. Many institutional occupiers have been willing to pay a premium to be in new, Class A space in these infill areas, but other occupiers are …

February 16, 2026

Market Reports Multifamily North Carolina Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Supply Drought: Why Triangle’s Multifamily Market Is About to Turn the Corner

by John Nelson February 9, 2026

After nearly three years of wrestling with oversupply, Raleigh-Durham’s multifamily market stands at an inflection point that informed investors have been quietly anticipating. The numbers tell a compelling story: construction starts plummeted from around 15,000 units in 2022 to roughly 2,000 in 2024, a staggering 86 percent decline that’s creating the supply drought the market desperately needed. The timing couldn’t be more critical. With an 18-month construction timeline followed by 12 to 16 months of lease-up process, the wave of deliveries from those record 2022 starts peaked in early-to-mid-2025. What comes next is perhaps the most interesting chapter in the Triangle’s multifamily story since our record rent jumps of 2021. Mathematics of recovery The construction cycle’s predictable timeline creates a unique visibility into market dynamics that astute capital allocators are already pricing in. The minimal 2024 starts are translating directly into minimal deliveries stretching from late 2025 through 2028 and beyond, which is essentially a three-year window of supply constraint that stands in stark contrast to the flood of new inventory and increased concessions that plagued 2023 to 2025. Meanwhile, demand fundamentals remain exceptionally strong. Gross absorption hit approximately 11,000 units in 2024 and is tracking toward another 10,000 (estimated) …

February 9, 2026

Affordable Housing Market Reports Multifamily North Carolina Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Raleigh-Durham’s Multifamily Market Is Normalizing Following Several Quarters of Softness

by John Nelson February 2, 2026

The Raleigh-Durham region continues to be one of the premier pockets of growth in the Southeast, thanks to robust employment opportunities and a steady pipeline of renters graduating from area schools including Duke University, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. Multifamily developers have been more than eager to help satiate the demand for housing in the area in recent years. According to Yardi Matrix, the Raleigh-Durham region had nearly 14,500 apartments deliver in 2024. The research platform also reported that approximately 8,600 more units came on line in the first three quarters of 2025, which represents a 4.2 percent growth rate compared to the market’s existing inventory. Like many of its peer markets in the Sun Belt, the Raleigh-Durham region is working its way through the excess supply, which is extending the lease-up period for newer properties. “For projects delivered in late 2023 into early 2024, absorption has slowed compared to historical norms,” says Lisa Narducci-Nix, director of business and property development at Drucker + Falk. Southeast Real Estate Business recently caught up with Narducci-Nix to discuss the health of the Raleigh-Durham apartment market, as well as larger operational trends. The following is an edited interview: …

February 2, 2026

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Tariffs Are Moving the Needle for Manufacturing, Distribution Demand on the I-85 Industrial Corridor

by John Nelson December 23, 2025

More than seven months have passed since Liberation Day, where the Trump administration declared a sweeping package of tariffs for foreign trade partners and specific commodities, including steel and aluminum. Since the announcement in early April, there has been a boon in the amount of multibillion-dollar advanced manufacturing, life sciences, semiconductor and data center investment announcements around the country, with the markets along the I-85 Industrial Corridor being no exception. To name a few: Toyota has recently begun production at its $13.9 billion battery plant in Liberty, N.C.; Rivian broke ground on its $5 billion electric vehicle plant near Social Circle, Ga.; JetZero is planning to create 14,500 jobs for an aerospace manufacturing facility in Greensboro, N.C.; Eli Lilly is developing a $5 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in the Richmond suburb of Goochland County, Va.; and Google is developing a trio of data centers in metro Richmond’s Chesterfield County. “We have incredible momentum bringing business back into the United States, which is going to drive industrial growth, particularly in the Southeast,” says Jim Anthony, CEO and founder of APG Companies. “We’re not unionized, we have lower taxes, fewer regulations and lower cost of energy, which is huge factor in site …

December 23, 2025

Market Reports North Carolina Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Charlotte’s Office Market Shows a Shift Toward Expansion, Long-Term Leasing

by John Nelson July 28, 2025

The momentum in Charlotte’s office market continues into 2025, showcasing a strong first quarter marked by positive net absorption and a surge in multi-market tenant prospects. We are currently seeing three times as many expansions as downsizing among tenants, indicating a psychological shift among decision-makers across various industries. Despite some large vacancies affecting the overall market rate, the narrative on the ground in Charlotte is one of optimism and urgency. A few factors contribute to this trend, including companies are increasingly bringing employees back to the office, and those that overcorrected their space needs post-pandemic are reassessing their strategies. Particularly interesting is the demand for Class A office space in Charlotte, a thriving Sun Belt market. The most sought-after buildings in prime locations are nearly full, leading to reduced concessions and rising rents. This stands in stark contrast to reports of distressed assets negatively impacting modern office investments. Furthermore, the number of quality subleases are limited, and new construction is expected to come to a halt soon, particularly as remaining spaces in 110 East and Legacy Union are leased, most likely by year-end. If last year is any indication of a fundamental positive shift in the office sector, we can …

July 28, 2025

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