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Commercial Property Market Showing First Signs of Widespread Cooling
The Wall Street Journal, based on data provided by data firm MSCI, says the commercial property markets are showing their first signs of widespread cooling in over a year.
While the office sector has for some time been a trouble spot, other sectors like hotels, warehouses and industrial properties, among others, have been enough to keep overall commercial real estate sales on the upswing.
Property sales were $39.4 billion in April, which was down 16% compared with the same month a year ago, according to MSCI Real Assets as quoted in the WSJ. The decline followed 13 consecutive months of increases.
WSJ wrote late Tuesday, “April’s 16% decline in sales marked an abrupt turn from March, when total commercial property sales rose 57% from the same month a year before.”
“The speed of that transition is shocking,” Jim Costello, chief economist at MSCI Real Assets, told the WSJ.
Costello added, “A drop in sales can be an early indicator of stress in real estate markets because prices are usually slower to change.”
- ◦Sale/Acquisition
