Retail led an unbalanced sales volume month in February for commercial real estate’s asset classes, according to a report last week from Colliers.
Overall, February’s volume totaling $25.1 billion was up nearly 34% from January sales levels, an above-average month-to-month increase.
Retail was the most heavily traded asset class in February, with $9.1 billion of activity, buoyed by the take-private deal of STORES Capital REIT. (Without it, the volume would have been $2 billion, and it would have fallen to a similar extent as other asset classes).
Office volume in commercial and business centers (CBD) was short of the $1 billion mark for the second month in a row – and the first time since 2010.
CBD office cap rates are up 70 basis points over the past year, and MSCI notes pricing is down 2.2%, though “recent cap rate movement would suggest a far more rapid price adjustment.”
Industrial volume got back to where it was in 2015-18 by increasing 63% from January. The STORE Capital REIT deal was the main reason why.
MSCI reported a 4.4% annual drop based on January to February pricing.
Multifamily sales volume is moving downward at a faster pace, with February’s $4.8 billion traded was the lowest monthly total since February 2012. A darling for so long, it is now the third-least-traded asset class for the first time since January 2015.
MSCI’s repeat sale index shows an 8.7% annual price decline, the sharpest of any asset class.
Hospitality sales volume was volatile as it was down 53% compared to last year but up month-over-month.
MSCI reports the strongest price appreciation of any asset class over the past year at 5.4%, and unlike other asset classes, when annualizing monthly statistics, hospitality shows a 2.1% gain on $2 billion in trades for the month.
Source: GlobeSt.