The Urban Land Institute (ULI) released the findings of their semiannual survey on March 28 and it suggests broad optimism for the commercial real estate forecast. The survey conducted between February 23 and March 12, 2012 gathered responses from leading real estate economists and analysts.
Highlights from their three year forecast:
• Commercial property transaction volume is expected to increase by nearly 50%.
• Rents are expected to increase for all property types, with 2012 increases ranging from 0.8 percent for retail up to 5.0 percent for apartments; RevPAR growth for hotels should reach 6.6% in 2012.
• Vacancy rates are expected to drop between 1.2 and 3.7 percentage points for office, retail, and industrial properties and remain stable at low levels for apartments; hotel occupancy rates are expected to rise.
•Institutional real estate assets and REITs are expected to provide returns ranging from 8.5% to 11% annually.