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The bullish view is that the U.S. economy is improving and the commercial real estate sector and the overall housing market could be showing signs of stability.
U.S. office vacancies are dropping and rents are on the rise, writes Kevin Grewal for SeekingAlpha. According to property research firm, Reis Inc., national vacancy rates dropped in the first quarter. Meanwhile, total occupied space for office buildings increased by 4.7 million square feet, with rents rising by $0.11 per square foot to $22.20.
For the housing market, CoreLogic’s national home price index diminished by 6.7% in February year-over-year, which was larger than the 5.5% drop in January year-over-year, reports Alistair Barr for MarketWatch. CoreLogic calculates that there were still 1.8 million residential units that were in foreclosure or other stages of distress as of January. Home prices decreased 0.1% in February year-over-year.
Nevertheless, Mark Fleming, chief economist at CoreLogic, believes that home prices could be stabilizing. “When you remove distressed properties from the equation, we’re seeing a significantly reduced pace of depreciation and greater stability in many markets,” Fleming remarks.
For more information on the real estate market, visit our real estate category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.