Austin’s retail market year-to-date occupancy rate stood at 96 percent, staying within the range of 95.8 percent to 96.1 percent since May of 2018, according to NAI Partners. Year-to-date the market has recorded 1.2 million square feet of net absorption, while new supply has remained level with demand, delivering 1.5 million square feet to the market so far this year. Of the 52 properties with 757,000 square feet currently under construction, about half (52.4 percent) of that space is available for lease. Meanwhile, there have been 591 deals — properties of 5,000 square feet or more — in 2018, accounting for 1.8 million square feet of leasing activity. The average asking rate of renting retail space is $21.50 per square foot on a triple-net basis, compared to $21.49 at this time in October.
According to Real Capital Analytics, investment sales of retail properties in the Austin area totaled $26.6 billion, based on the rolling four-quarter sales volume ending Sept. 30, up 0.8 percent compared to the same period one year ago. Private capital has been the most active buyer type and seller type in 2018 comprising 40.4 percent and 36.4 percent of Austin’s total sales volume, respectively.
