Crexi National Commercial Real Estate Report: April 2022

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Welcome to the April 2022 release of our Crexi Trends report. Each month, we analyze Crexi’s database to identify relevant activity and patterns to share key insights with our users. 

Our report showcases trends found across Crexi’s commercial property listings in April, evaluating average price per square foot, search behavior, occupancy, and other noteworthy metrics. With this information in hand, we hope to arm principals, tenants, and brokers alike with actionable learnings to make well-informed commercial real estate decisions.

Asset type month-over-month asking price changes in April on Crexi

Average Asking Price per Square Foot and Changes Month-over-Month

Overall asking prices rose in April to hit record highs on Crexi.

Last month, the average asking price for new assets hit all-time highs on Crexi, up by 6.7% for an average of just above $280 per square foot. These increased values coincide with higher average occupancy rates, which boost property value with guaranteed tenant income. 

Occupancy rates hit 84.2% on average in April, which is their highest monthly value since August 2020 and signals a continued return to market normalcy post-pandemic.

Multifamily made substantial gains in April with a double-digit rise in asking prices.

Multifamily properties showed the highest month-over-month growth in April, with average asking prices increasing by more than 13% compared to assets added in March. We attribute this partially to an increase in smaller square-footage Class A  properties coming online last month. Also, the change points to continued interest in multifamily as a core investment sector that can demand higher values thanks to its promising, steady returns on investment.

Office and retail continued pushing pre-pandemic norms with pricing and occupancy growth.

We observed significant pricing gains in the office and retail sectors last month, as both asset classes continued their return towards pre-pandemic values. Office average asking prices increased 7.7%, with occupancy rates surpassing levels not seen since August 2020. 

Retail’s average asking price also rose 6.5% in April, with occupancy rates at an average of 88%, their highest levels since July 2020, when many retail tenants began to relinquish their space amid COVID-19 shutdowns.

Industrial supply constriction led to rising asking rents in April.

It’s becoming more challenging to find available industrial space, driving rent values up, ahead of new construction delivering more space to the market. On Crexi, we observed an impressive 7% increase in average asking rents for industrial space in April. These gains coincided with a drop in available industrial space for lease, with new warehouse and manufacturing leasing supply down 23% and distribution assets down 30% compared to inventory added in March. 

The usual top cities for search activity saw a decline in action, while West Coast markets made gains.

In April, buyers showed declining interest in Sunbelt metros, as Houston, Dallas, and Miami saw slight drops in search activity. Conversely, Western metros such as Tucson (up 5.5%) and Los Angeles (up 4.2%) were among the few cities to show increased buyer attention.

 On the leasing side, tenants flocked to Texas metros, with Houston, San Antonio, and Austin among the cities with the most significant increase in tenant search activity in April.

Highest Average Asking Price per Square Foot By State — April 2022

Disclaimer: This article’s information is based on Crexi’s internal marketplace data and additional external sources. While asking price in many ways reflects market conditions, variations in pricing are affected by changes in inventory, asset size, etc. Nothing contained on this website is intended to be construed as investing advice. Any reference to an investment’s past or potential performance should not be construed as a recommendation or guarantee towards a specific outcome.

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Crexi Insights
Crexi Insights

Marketing Team at Crexi

Crexi makes CRE easy by consolidating the entire commercial real estate process into a single ecosystem.

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