January 22, 2024

Dozens of new industrial buildings added to metro Phoenix’s inventory in the fourth quarter while also increasing the market’s vacancy rate. Nearly 9 million square feet delivered in the fourth quarter to bump the market’s vacancy rate to 8% — double the rate from the first quarter, according to

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The Phoenix Office of JLL has released its Q4 2023 Phoenix Office Insight, noting some persistent, positive trends after a challenging 12 months. In the last quarter of the year, negative absorption slowed, asking rents showed signs of stabilizing and construction deliveries remained subdued, reducing

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Colliers reported positive pre-leasing data on new office properties, with most markets above the average percentage at 46.2% pre-leased and Manhattan coming in first at 83.3% pre-leased. There are 36.4 million square feet of active construction across the top office markets and most projects are

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The number of apartment spaces being created in office buildings across major cities this year has risen to over 55,000, four times higher than the 12,100 under conversion in 2021, according to a new report. The 55,339 office-to-apartment makeovers scheduled for this year mark a record high,

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Fannie Mae has a rosy outlook for mortgage rates. The government sponsored enterprise is projecting that rates will drop below 6% by the end of 2024, which in turn will boost refi volumes and help thaw the existing home sales market. Following years of volatility in mortgage rates, the

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January 19, 2024

“Affordable housing” is becoming almost an oxymoron for many American households, whether they seek to rent or buy. The cost of renting or buying a three-bedroom home gobbles up more than one-third of wages in most county-level housing markets, and in some cases much more

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Headlines heralding the office sector’s doom have been common over the past several months. “The Next Crisis Will Start With Empty Office Buildings,” proclaimed a June article in The Atlantic. “We Definitely Think the Office Sector is Crashing,” a Fortune article noted. Also in

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In a whirlwind 2023, Phoenix Business Journal staffers covered dozens of impactful deals across the Valley. Those deals were scrutinized by real estate and economic development reporters Ron Davis and Audrey Jensen, along with managing editor Paul Thompson. Trying to chisel down

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Despite national declines, Phoenix stands at the forefront of industrial space occupancy and demand, with a 3% increase in occupied space and the delivery of 16.5 million square feet of industrial product in Q3 2023, as highlighted in LGE Design Build’s newly released Q4/Q1 Construction

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Mortgage rates continued their descent this week to mark their lowest level since May 2023, welcome news for homebuyers who have been waiting on the sidelines for rates to drop.  The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.6% as of Jan. 11, a decrease from last week’s 6.66%, according

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January 18, 2024

During her 2023 International State of the State address, Gov. Katie Hobbs highlighted Arizona’s No. 1 national ranking in foreign direct investment (FDI) for the second year in a row, with the state attracting nearly $32 billion of investment from international companies in 2022. Some of the

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Phoenix tops the nation in construction for build-to-rent communities, with more than 8,000 units currently under construction, according to a report released by Northmarq on Jan. 17. Dallas-Fort Worth is close behind Phoenix at No. 2, but no other U.S. city comes close to the torrid level

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Fights over housing take place at city hall. It’s where developers, elected leaders and residents come to argue over what, where and whether something should be built. That’s because mayors and city councilmembers decide how land is used. It’s why, in most Arizona cities, homes sit

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Greystar has begun construction on the first multifamily portion of a massive mixed-use project outside Phoenix. The development is part of Greystar’s master plan for Peoria Place, a $500 million, 88-acre project adjacent to municipal offices that was designed to revitalize the Peoria

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A new luxury hotel boasting opulent penthouse suites, multiple dining options and two pools is getting ready to open in the heart of Scottsdale. The 11-story, 265-room Caesars Republic Scottsdale is situated on the north side of Scottsdale Fashion Square at Goldwater Boulevard and

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January 17, 2024

Despite inflation and high interest rates, consumers ramped up their spending in December, helping to end the holiday season and full year on an upbeat note. Core retail sales during the 2023 holiday season grew 3.8% over 2022 to a record $964.4 billion, according to U.S. Census

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Under the basic understanding of economics and the relationship between supply and demand, there comes a time when more inventory means less money. Customers can have their pick; competitors come to a point where they start lowering prices. Pricing power gets harder to come

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On Oct. 26, American Battery Factory (ABF) broke ground on its 2-million-square-foot gigafactory in Pima County’s Aerospace Research Campus located south of the Tucson International Airport and near world-class companies such as Raytheon. Situated on 267 acres, ABF plans to build

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The barriers to building affordable housing can sometimes start even before a plot of land is chosen. “When you look at most cities’ general plan maps, you will see almost no multifamily-zoned land,” said Dan Klocke, development project manager for affordable housing developer Gorman

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After a year marked by volatile — and frequently high — mortgage rates, little inventory and affordability issues that sidelined many buyers, the 2024 housing market outlook offers more of the same, albeit with some relief. Housing economists vary somewhat on their assessments of what’s to come in

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January 16, 2024

In October 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported that a survey of more than 60 economic forecasters expected the U.S. to enter a recession in 2023 with inflation continuing to run high and employers cutting jobs as the economy contracted. Az Business magazine sat down with the following Greater

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Angry rural residents brought farm animals to protest apartments planned near the semiconductor plant being built in northwest Phoenix when they attended a neighborhood meeting in April. In Chandler, people unhappy about an affordable apartment project filled a high school assembly room

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Things are starting to shake loose a bit in a CRE market, says Jones Lang LaSalle. “JLL’s proprietary Bid Intensity Index shows improved market trends since year-end 2022, despite the late summer run up in bond yields,” the company wrote. “Bidding activity was on the rise in late 2023, with the average

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Two industrial properties have sold across the Valley in the past two months. Newport Beach, California-based CapRock Partners acquired a nearly 250,000-square-foot industrial facility for $20.4 million through a new loan and a $1.6 million down payment, according to Maricopa County land

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Plans are in the works to renew certification for new housing that was halted over groundwater shortages in two of the Valley’s fastest growing areas. Catch up quick: Gov. Katie Hobbs last June announced a moratorium on new subdivisions in the Phoenix area that rely solely on groundwater, a policy

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