Monday, February 11, 2013

Colliers’ Annual South Florida Commercial Real Estate Review



Donna Abood
MIAMI, FL-- Colliers International South Florida is pleased to release its Q4 2012 South Florida Commercial Real Estate Research Report. In this edition, you will find valuable market overviews for office, industrial and retail product in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties.


Highlights of the report from Donna Abood, co-chairman and founding partner; Michael T. Fay, co-chairman and founding partner; and Stephen Nostrand, chief executive officer.

Michael T. Fay
Throughout 2012 we looked ahead with caution understanding that the market was changing and direction was positive but uncertain. Looking back at 2012 we see that we’ve come a long way from this time last year.

 Transaction activity is up. Interest and inquiries are up. Confidence and outlook are up too. Overall the South Florida market made improvements virtually across the board, both at the macro and micro level.

This consistent increase in activity is fueled by several factors, many of which we expect to see continue into the first half of 2013. CMBS is coming back into the picture which will provide a solid foundation of growth from which to springboard.

Stephen Nosrand
Each of our primary lines of business benefits from the resolution of distress across the local and national market. While the market is improving, we still estimate that roughly one third of the market is still distressed.

We are also seeing a pick up in the private sector with 1031 exchanges getting active. Net absorption has been positive across almost every major property type in every major market, an obvious indication of leasing strength and a narrower gap between bid and ask for commercial space.

Some of this has to do with negligible construction activity, at least when compared to the first part of the 2000’s.

Miami skyline
These observations are more than just commentary though. We’ve seen a continued evolution in our book of business to include a greater proportion of institutional and headline-worthy deals.

 We closed nearly $400 million in investment sales transaction value and leased approximately 1.5 million square feet of space across South Florida.

As we mark an end to 2012 we acknowledge that the recovery is still well under way. This means the local market will still be subject to short-term volatility as talk about the fiscal cliff and national level budget concerns pump the breaks on what looks like a smoother road through 2013.

Fort Lauderdale skyline
The residential is still roaring back fueled by foreign demand and we expect this demand will begin to taper off gradually.

 In short the local market saw widespread improvement when compared to 2011 and we expect to see more of the same during 2013. However, we remain cautiously optimistic.

For a complete copy of the report, please contact:

Crystal Proenza
Vice President of Marketing
Colliers International South Florida
Commercial Real Estate Services
Tel: 305 476 7138
 

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