UTAH IS ON FIRE

Hundreds of thousands of acres in Utah has been lost to forest fires in recent weeks. One of our industrial clients even had a fire adjacent to his warehouse building on Redwood Road in Salt Lake City.  While not on fire, Utah's commercial industrial real estate market is still pretty hot.  Investment and owner user sales are on the rise, and construction activity appears more stable. While pent up leasing demand has been sated, there are still several 100,000+ square foot requirements in the market. Of interest is the number of land buyers actively seeking acquisition   Both developers and users are demonstrating demand here. 2012 is shaping up to be another robust year!

CO-STAR POWER BROKER 2011

Cory Martin from CoStar dropped by the IPG offices this afternoon to deliver some new Hardware for IPG Commercial and Michael Jeppesen. For commercial real estate brokers in Utah it is an honor to be recognized by CoStar as a “Power Broker” for the production volume in sales and lease transactions and once again we applaud Michael for his continued excellence. 2011 was a great year, and 2012 has continued in similar fashion being boosted by the improving Utah economy. We look forward to IPG and Michael being in the running once again for recognition this year.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE IN UTAH IS A STRONG BET

As interest rates hover at all-time historical lows, inflation concerns lurk in the shadows, and the general economic health of several European countries hang in the balance, commercial real estate in Utah remains a very strong bet. Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a global financial services firm with offices in every major financial center in the world had this to say on CNBC on Tuesday, “I think the stock market is in a tough spot, right? There’s no growth. The Fed couldn’t have made it more clear.” He went on to say, “people are afraid to put their money in the stock market, where is that money going to go? People are willing to invest in real estate.” You can read about or even watch Howard’s comments at this link http://bit.ly/LQwWmU.

If you are considering a commercial real estate investment. Give us a call to discuss attractive opportunities to consider in your portfolio.

WHEN IN DOUBT POWER OUT!

You may have heard that saying if you have ever done any power sports like snowmobiling, or dirt biking, but how does this phrase have anything to do with Commercial Real Estate in Utah?

Well, the truth is, it might not depending on your perspective.  In its recently published Economic Snapshot, the Utah Workforce Services reports a modest 2.8% growth rate in non-farm jobs over a year ago.  That does not seem robust until you compare it to the anemic 1.4% National average. Additionally the report states that permitted construction values were up 50% in the same period, and unemployment claims in Utah are down about 5% from a year ago.

The U.S. Chamber just ranked Utah second among ‘boom states’, claiming Utah is ready to explode in the new report.

For us at IPG Commercial Real Estate it is all about industrial properties, and the Utah industrial real estate marketplace which led the nation in speculative development a year ago is healthy. We are continuing to note moderate levels of both new construction and absorption activity.  While it seems that deals happen at a slower pace than they used to, they are still getting done, and by year end it may indeed look like all the ‘doubt’ has turned to ‘power out’.

INVESTMENT SALE COMPS IN UTAH

One of our clients recently asked us what is happening in terms of investment sales for industrial real estate in Utah. We created the map below to give them a visual perspective of recent transactions in the Salt Lake City area. The client really liked seeing photos of recently sold buildings along with the cap rate and price per square foot overlaid right on the map. If you have a similar need for commercial real estate information or need to utilize our GIS mapping capabilities give us a call. We would be glad to create something similar for you.