Market Reports

Survey: Industry Professionals in Texas Voice Major Concerns Over Interest Rates in 2023

by Taylor Williams January 24, 2023

By Taylor Williams If inflation was the story of 2022, then basic economic theory dictates that interest rate hikes and their subsequent impacts will be the featured issue of 2023. For when it comes to whipping inflation, the Federal Reserve only has so many tools in its kit. The nation’s central bank can raise reserve requirements for lenders and sell Treasury notes all day long, but nothing has as direct and powerful of an effect on the monetary supply as movement in short-term interest rates. Simply put, higher interest rates discourage borrowing activity, which reduces the amount of money circulating in the system. In the past 12 months, the U.S. economy has seen no fewer than seven rate hikes totaling 425 basis points, with the Fed indicating that more increases are on the docket for 2023. Much like severe inflation itself, the rate hikes that inevitably follow rampant price escalation tend to touch nearly every facet of commercial real estate. Developers and investors respectively face higher interest rates on construction and acquisition loans. Brokers must adjust prices on properties they’re listing for sale or rent in response to these variables. End users tend to be somewhat insulated from these impacts, …

January 24, 2023

Industrial Market Reports Texas Texas Market Reports

Houston’s Outlying Submarkets Offer Promising Industrial Opportunities

by Taylor Williams January 17, 2023

By David Ebro, president of Levey Group Despite the nearly 6.4 million square feet of new project starts during the fourth quarter of 2022, which grew the volume of Houston’s industrial space currently under construction to 33.5 million square feet, the market posted a record 30.3 million square feet of net absorption for the year. This activity drove Houston’s vacancy rate down to 3.8 percent — a decline of 220 basis points from the end of 2021. The remarkable growth throughout the Houston MSA — the nation’s fourth-largest metropolitan area — has developers racing to find buildable sites both within and beyond the city limits. As a result, industrial development is bulging out of the city and into submarkets such as Baytown, Richmond and Brookshire as developers pursue more economically feasible land among these growing population centers. Beyond favorable land opportunities, Houston’s outlying submarkets offer the workforces that tenants require for their warehouse and distribution operations. These growing submarkets are also generating an increasing amount of demand from e-commerce users in the consumer goods sector. Record Growth East of Houston Much of the industrial growth can be found east of town, near and along the Houston Ship Channel. For the …

January 17, 2023

Market Reports Retail Texas Texas Market Reports

Is Your Mall or Shopping Center Ready for Redevelopment or Rehabilitation?

by Taylor Williams January 4, 2023

By Taylor Williams From small-scale refreshes of neighborhood shopping centers to massive conversions of regional malls, retail redevelopment has become a budding business as seismic forces like e-commerce and COVID-19 have fundamentally altered the ways in which Americans shop, dine and seek entertainment. Yet empirical and anecdotal evidence shows that people still love to frequent brick-and-mortar stores, restaurants and entertainment centers. According to data from Transwestern, at the end of the third quarter, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio all had marketwide retail vacancy rates under 6 percent. Year-over-year vacancy contracted by anywhere from 80 to 130 basis points across the four major markets, all of which also experienced positive net absorption in the third quarter. While these Texas-specific numbers reflect a steady, sustained rebound for brick-and-mortar retail in the post-COVID era, preliminary data on holiday shopping indicates that e-commerce’s foothold on the market is getting stronger. According to Adobe Analytics, online sales during Black Friday topped $9.1 billion, a 2.3 percent increase over 2021. While that number should be judged against the fact that this year, the public health risk of shopping in physical stores was substantially reduced, it also represents a 21.7 percent increase over pre-pandemic online …

January 4, 2023

Market Reports Texas Texas Market Reports

Major Tech Acquisitions, Expansions Fuel Growth Throughout Allen, Texas

by Taylor Williams December 20, 2022

By The Allen Economic Development Corp. Austin is often in the spotlight as one of the country’s top tech hubs, but Allen, a growing suburb located north of Dallas, has emerged as a mini tech hub in its own right. Most recently, the Allen Economic Development Corp. (AEDC) announced that Pushpay, a provider of payments and engagement solutions for faith-based and nonprofit businesses, has signed a lease at One Bethany West as the company looks to expand its presence in North Texas. Pushpay is one of several companies that has in recent years discovered that Allen has the right combination of qualities and amenities to support tech companies seeking a new home. Pushpay is one of several companies that has in recent years discovered that Allen has the right combination of qualities and amenities to support tech companies seeking a new home. Pushpay will occupy 10,000 square feet of office space in the 17-acre Watters Creek campus, which will be accessible to its employees in the metroplex, many of which include associates from its subsidiary, Resi Media. “Pushpay and Resi are the perfect additions to the growing roster of tech-focused companies in Allen,” says David Ellis, assistant director at AEDC. …

December 20, 2022

Market Reports Office Texas Texas Market Reports

Texas Office Users Trade Lengthier Terms for Tenant Improvement Dollars

by Taylor Williams December 6, 2022

By Taylor Williams Success in today’s office sector is all about creating incentives. Some companies, from small professional services outfits to tech giants like Salesforce and Airbnb, have completely capitulated to remote work and have aggressively slashed their office footprints. Others remain dogged in their commitments to nonresidential (and nonretail) workspaces. What works for one company may not work for its competitors, and there remains a fundamental need for at least some traditional office space across all major markets. Against this backdrop, what separates the winners from the losers is the ability to create a draw, to give people legitimately good reasons to get up earlier, spend more time getting ready, endure traffic, put costly mileage on their cars, then deal with whatever quirky goings-on define their office experience. Needless to say, this can be a tough sell, especially for employees with families and suburban commutes. Which is why owners, both of businesses and of the office buildings that house them, are getting creative. These corporate leaders and landlords are working in tandem to ensure that the spaces meet the precise needs of their workforces, from design and layout within the suite to access to onsite amenities and surrounding retail, …

December 6, 2022

Market Reports Retail Texas Texas Market Reports

Texas Holiday Sales Outlook: Not Very Merry

by Taylor Williams November 29, 2022

By Jason Baker of Baker Katz It’s amazing how quickly things can change. Just a few short months ago, the commercial real estate outlook was generally positive. Both in Texas and nationally, retail sales were proving to be fairly resilient to the rising inflation and economic turbulence that have characterized most of 2022. Despite low consumer confidence, strong fundamentals and a retail sector riding the high of a post-pandemic boom provided plenty of reasons for optimism. That has all changed in the last 60 to 90 days. Prevailing positivity has recently given way to concern, and sentiment from within the industry has clearly shifted. High interest rates have made it virtually impossible to develop any type of commercial project, and persistent supply chain constraints and ongoing hikes in costs of construction materials have further exacerbated this challenge. With interest rate increases come higher cap rates, which complicates sellers’ efforts to move their assets while values are this fluid. To put the impact of rising rates into perspective, interest payments on commercial real estate have in some cases increased five-fold in just the last few months. The impact of this activity on retail real estate during the all-important holiday shopping season …

November 29, 2022

Market Reports Office Texas Texas Market Reports

Houston Office Market Continues Forward Slog

by Taylor Williams November 22, 2022

By Chip Colvill, executive vice president, Cushman & Wakefield Like many U.S. cities in the post-pandemic world, Houston’s office sector faces a long road to recovery. Historically, office demand follows office job creation — and job growth has been a bright spot of the Houston economy in 2022. Unfortunately, the U.S. economy seems to be slowing, and the outlook remains highly uncertain. Odds of a recession have risen; inflation and wage pressures remain elevated, and higher interest rates are impacting various parts of the economy, including commercial real estate. Throughout the United States as well as in Houston, the correlation between job growth and office demand is tenuous, given that many businesses are still recalibrating workplace strategies to allow remote and hybrid work schedules. However, new jobs — even more flexible, hybrid jobs — will necessitate various types of workspaces, including demand for office and flexible office space. Newer office buildings across Houston have thrived despite the market’s elevated Class A vacancy rate of approximately 26 percent. Each new quarter of data continues to confirm the flight-to-quality trend and the existence of a bifurcated office sector between older and newer office product. Higher-quality and newer office space is dominating as …

November 22, 2022

Market Reports Texas Texas Market Reports

A Buyer’s Legal Guide to Purchasing Real Commercial Property in Texas

by Taylor Williams November 2, 2022

By Ryan Sullivan, partner, attorney, Kruger Carson PLLC Over the last few years, record numbers of businesses have relocated to Texas to take advantage of the strong economy, including a red-hot commercial real estate market. Whether a party intends to acquire or lease real property, he or she must be aware of several customs and laws that make Texas real estate transactions different from those in other parts of the country. Below is a high-level survey of some of these issues. Independent Consideration Purchasers of real property in Texas will want to ensure that their purchase agreements include payments of sums that they cannot recoup even if they terminate during their “free look” period. Otherwise, Texas courts have taken the position that purchase agreements are not enforceable against sellers until some portion of the earnest money has become nonrefundable. Deceptive Trade Practices The Deceptive Trade Practice/Consumer Protection Act (DTPA) is intended to protect consumers against unconscionable business practices or unequal bargaining power. The DTPA does not apply to many commercial transactions, but because of the high potential for liability, a carefully drafted waiver should be included in most purchase agreements and leases as a matter of best practice. Closing Costs …

November 2, 2022

Affordable Housing Market Reports Multifamily Texas Texas Market Reports

Texas’ Economic Growth Generates New Opportunities in Affordable Housing

by Taylor Williams October 26, 2022

By Cody Roskelley, senior developer at Pennrose Texas has experienced tremendous residential growth over the last few years. Families are leaving high-cost, high-tax areas like New York and California for more affordable alternatives. According to The Tax Foundation, Texas was one of the Top 10 U.S. states for inbound migration in 2021, posting population growth around 1.3 percent on a year-over-year basis. With population increase also comes opportunities for economic growth and regional investment. However, having high-quality, affordable and workforce housing stock is key to the state successfully capitalizing on this moment. Between historically high rates of inflation and single-family home prices, as well as aggressive interest rate hikes, having the affordable housing infrastructure in place to attract new residents is critical. While most people generally agree that there is a need for more affordable housing, there is often local pushback once such communities are proposed in their neighborhoods. Much of the opposition stems from a lack of understanding of what affordable housing is — and isn’t. For example, individuals making anywhere between 30 to 80 percent of the area median income (AMI) can qualify for affordable housing. There are also several different subcategories of affordable housing: Low-Income Public Housing: …

October 26, 2022

Industrial Market Reports Texas Texas Market Reports

Interest Rates, Industrial Tenant Demand Square Off Across Texas Markets

by Taylor Williams October 19, 2022

By Taylor Williams Much as the commercial community and society at large would like to avoid a recession, prolonged periods of contraction are part of the natural economic cycle, and the U.S. financial powers that be appear to be on a collision course for exactly that scenario. But for assets classes backed by exceptional demand drivers and fundamentals, like industrial real estate in major Texas markets, is there really a need to sweat a downturn? Like any conflict, the battle between macro- and micro-level forces essentially comes down to magnitude. Will the severity of interest rate increases — three separate hikes totaling 200-plus basis points in a few months — prevail over robust tenant demand that has fueled record occupancy and rent growth throughout Texas and beyond in recent years? Only the Federal Reserve can speak to the first variable. The nation’s central bank appears hell-bent on whipping inflation, which registered a year-over-year increase of 8.3 percent in August, and is seemingly resigned to the inevitability of recession as a byproduct of its monetary policy. As for the competing forces that are industrial fundamentals, third-quarter figures were not available at the time of this writing. But, using Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) …

October 19, 2022

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