2014 Middle Tennessee CRE Sales Outlook
Survey: A Banner Year in 2013 Stunts Sales Expectations This Year; Leasing Polls Strong
(first of three posts)
Last month we conducted our 4th Annual 2014 Middle Tennessee Commercial Real Estate Survey. Forty-two commercial real estate brokers, developers, building owners and investors took the survey, conducted by commercial real estate and design services company Southeast Venture, which gauged expectations about local sales, leasing and sector activity in 2014.
I am going to present the survey results here, in a series of three posts, beginning with the first category: Sales.
Sixty-two percent of respondents believe that sales of Middle Tennessee commercial real estate will be better or much better in 2014. Though this is slightly lower than previous years—down 4 percent over last year, and down from 64 percent positive responses in 2012—it still points to an overall sense of optimism within Middle Tennessee’s commercial real estate industry. Twenty-one percent expect sales to be stagnant in 2014 compared to 2013, and only 17 percent believe sales will fare worse.
Nashville’s growth and national attention and the availability of commercial real estate financing were the top two reasons given for the favorable rating of commercial real estate sales.
Survey takers who foresee a stagnant or declining market this year point to the limited supply of available commercial real estate and the strength of the market in 2013. There will be “far fewer office transactions because several large, best in class A buildings sold in 2013,” one responder said. “Two-thousand-thirteen was just a very strong year,” another replied.
