Local Market Remains Steady despite National Economic Volatility

new Jason graphic - 6-3-15While the national economy was affected by turmoil in the global markets, the Philadelphia commercial real estate market continued its progress for another quarter, according to the latest quarterly analysis from Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that specializes in Philly commercial real estate listings and services, including Philly retail space and other Philadelphia commercial properties.

An expected summer slow-down did slow the pace of transactions, but overall growth, expansion, and positive absorption stayed on track said the report from this Philly commercial real estate brokerage firm. Healthcare, insurance, financial services, defense contracting, and technology companies led the way.

“As in the past several quarters, we saw a healthy volume of transactions due to business expansion and improving job growth during the third quarter,” said Jason Wolf, founder and managing principal of Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a leading Philly commercial real estate brokerage firm.. “We also saw an uptick in deal activity among small and mid-size businesses, which is welcome good news that the market had been waiting for.”

The report from this Philly commercial real estate broker details many factors contributing to continued strength in the market, including large and small lease deals, the beginning of new construction activity, several investment acquisitions of office properties, and continued repositioning among the area’s REITs.

According to the report issued by Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm with expertise in Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, including Philadelphia retail space and other Philly commercial properties, this repositioning also covers the latest coup for the GROW NJ program, a recently announced 1.7 million square-foot mixed use development along the waterfront in Camden, NJ.

According to Wolf Commercial Real Estate, the third quarter posted approximately 477,983 of new leases and renewals executed in the Philly commercial real estate market. This is a nearly 20 percent improvement over the third quarter a year ago. New tenant leases consisted of approximately 280,360 square feet, and renewals and expansions made up approximately 197,623 square feet. New leasing activity represented approximately 58.7% of all deals for the quarter.

Overall, gross absorption for Q3 is in the range of approximately 233,610 square feet. In addition to the consummated deals, this section of the report from the Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that specializes in Philadelphia commercial real estate listings indicated a pipeline of approximately 350,000 square feet of significant pending lease deals expected to close in the near term.

Other office market highlights in the analysis from Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm that specializes in Philly commercial real estate listings and services, including Philly retail space and other Philadelphia commercial properties:

  • Overall vacancy in the market continues to drop, and is now down to approximately 12.15 percent, an improvement of three quarters of a point over the previous quarter. Vacancy in Burlington County is now down to 8 percent, while in Camden County it stands at 16.3 percent.
  • The majority of leasing activity for the third quarter was comprised of deals ranging in size from 3,000-80,000 square feet.
  • Average rents for Class A & B product continue to show strong support in the range of $10.00-$13.00/sf NNN or $21.00-$23.00/sf gross, with an overall market average showing strong support in the $10.00-$13.00/sf NNN or $20.00-$23.00/sf gross for the deals completed during the quarter. Rents have remained stable.

The full report is available upon request from Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a Philly commercial real estate brokerage firm with expertise in Philly commercial real estate listings and services, including Philadelphia retail space and other Philadelphia commercial properties.

For more information about Philly office space, Philly retail space or any Philly commercial properties, please contact Jason Wolf (856-857-6301; jason.wolf@wolfcre.com) at Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a Philadelphia commercial real estate broker.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate is a premier Philly commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services that include Philadelphia retail space and other Philadelphia commercial properties.  Wolf Commercial Real Estate markets commercial retails, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philly commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.  Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.