Retail vacancy in Greater Phoenix ended the second quarter at 10 percent, and the rate has improved only minimally thus far in 2015. Over the past 12 months, vacancy has declined by 70 basis points.
The slow pace of vacancy improvement has been the result of a modest level of net absorption by retailers. In the first half of this year, net absorption totaled less than 550,000 square feet, down more than 40 percent from the same periods in recent years.
Sales of shopping centers cooled from the first quarter to the second quarter, but the combined total activity from the first half of 2015 is outpacing levels from 2014. Prices ticked higher in the second quarter, with the median reaching $133 per square foot.
Read the full Greater Phoenix Retail Report.
