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Reis reports the strip mall vacancy rate hit 10.3% in Q3 2009; the highest vacancy rate since 1992. And rents are cliff diving ...



From Reuters: Shopping center vacancy rate hits 17-year high: report

"Our outlook for retail properties as a whole is bleak," Victor Calanog, Reis director of research, said. "Until we see stabilization and recovery take root in both consumer spending and business spending and hiring, we do not foresee a recovery in the retail sector until late 2012 at the earliest."

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The third-quarter vacancy rate at U.S. strip malls, which include local shopping and big-box centers, rose 0.3 percentage points from the second quarter to 10.3 percent, the highest since 1992, Reis said.

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Factoring in months of free rent and other perks, effective rent fell 0.8 percent from the second quarter to $16.89 per square foot or down 3.8 percent from the third quarter 2008. Rents were the lowest since mid-2007

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"Since asking and effective rent growth only turned negative about one year ago, it is daunting to observe this acceleration in decline in what has traditionally been regarded as a stable property type," Calanog said.

A grim outlook: no recovery seen in the retail CRE sector "until late 2012 at the earliest".Malls. Offices. Apartments. The story is the same: rising vacancies and falling rents. Here are the earlier reports this week on offices and apartments: