Major statistics such as unemployment and non-farm jobs are continuing to show improvement in key markets throughout the Southeast, a sign that these positive trends should continue in the fourth quarter. Unemployment is showing signs of improvement or stabilization on a monthly basis. Florida’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.5% in August, the same rate… Read more »
Builders continue to report rising development and construction costs. Nevertheless, homebuilder confidence remains positive in all regions of the U.S. over the past five months. Existing-home sales strengthened in July, a positive reversal after total sales were down slightly in the previous month, according to the National Association of Realtors. Compared to last year, July… Read more »
Throughout the Southeast, unemployment rates continue to drop amid a robust economy and strong job creation. U.S. employers report strong hiring intentions for the third consecutive quarter as the national labor market edges closer to full capacity. The number of employees on non-farm payrolls in several cities throughout the Southeast continues to rise. Orlando has… Read more »
By Tony Bartlett Atlanta office job growth has been booming recent years. A decades-long shift in the local job market away from industrial jobs and toward high-salary, office-using employment took on new strength beginning in 2010. In fact, the gap between industrial and office employment – more than 150,000 jobs – is wider today than… Read more »
Real estate investment funds took in $15 billion less globally than they did in 2015, but the industry has a record $227 billion in “dry powder,” money for investment that is not currently deployed, according to National Real Estate Investor. “After returning record amounts to investors in the 2013-2015 period, fundraising gained momentum and dry… Read more »
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised the overnight interest rate from .75 to 1 percent, according to Reuters. The wire service reported the move was “spurred by steady economic growth, strong job gains and confidence that inflation is rising to the central bank’s target.” The move had been widely expected for weeks, with speculation on… Read more »
The newest annual “stress test” for U.S. banks will focus more sharply than ever on commercial real estate. That’s the consensus of multiple news reports following the Federal Reserve’s Feb. 3 release of criteria for the 2017 test. As you’ll recall, these stress tests started following the 2008 financial crisis, and are meant to ensure… Read more »
In what could be an encouraging sign for 2017, vacancy rates continued to show improvement in most segments and markets in the Southeast in the fourth quarter of 2016. In three key markets – Atlanta, Miami and Orlando – office vacancy rates fell throughout the last year. Each quarter showed new improvement in the… Read more »
A recent NAIOP event shed light on an important question; Why Orlando,Why Central Florida? The panel consisted of Sean Malott (Central Florida Development Council), Dave Porter (Metro Orlando EDC), Danielle Ruiz (Duke Energy), Rob Sitterley (Merit advisors), and Eric Ushkowitz (Orange County). A main point that the panel touched on is that Central Florida is home… Read more »
“Gotta catch em all”, the famous phrase, came out in 1996 in Japan. It was created for the Nintendo Game Boy system, allowing people of all ages to trade and catch 151 creatures. Now, in the 2016, Pokémon has resurfaced in a whole new way. Pokémon Go is a virtual reality app that is allowing… Read more »