SENIORS HOUSING INDUSTRY BREAKS NEW GROUND
Construction starts in the seniors housing industry have accelerated in 2004. Developers are expected to break ground on more than 32,000 units this year, up 12% from 2003. California and Illinois lead the nation with more than 2,500 construction starts in each state this year.
OFFICE REITs TRAIL EQUITY REIT INDEX
The office REIT sector lagged the aggregate Equity REIT index in October, 3.31% to 5.02%. Earnings reports affected some companies. Mission West, for example, dropped nearly 9% following the release of its third-quarter results. Prime Group, which had planned to merge with Prime/Mansur Investment Partners LLC, was the top performer. That merger has since been terminated.
| Company Name Market | Ticker | Closing Price | Price Change (%) | Equity Cap ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Group Realty Trust | PGE | 6.38 | 11.93 | 170.7 |
| Parkway Properties Inc. | PKY | 50.78 | 9.32 | 572.8 |
| Boston Properties Inc. | BXP | 59.72 | 7.82 | 7,815.2 |
| CarrAmerica Realty Corp. | CRE | 32.23 | -1.44 | 1,927.8 |
| Mission West Properties Inc. | MSW | 9.90 | -4.35 | 1,034.4 |
| Bedford Property Investors Inc. | BED | 28.75 | -5.24 | 469.3 |
| Sources: SNL Financial | ||||
INDUSTRIAL RENTAL RATES PLOD TOWARD RECOVERY
Lagging demand for second-generation space has kept a lid on industrial rental rates. The average asking rent nationally for warehouse/distribution space fell by a penny to $4.38 per sq. ft. in the second quarter of 2004 from a year earlier. The national average asking rent for R&D/flex space fell six cents to $9.41 in the same period.
| Warehouse/Distribution Asking Rental Rates | |
|---|---|
| Orange County, Calif. | $7.68 |
| San Diego | $7.20 |
| Washington, D.C. | $6.82 |
| Long Island, N.Y. | $6.50 |
| San Jose, Calif. | $6.40 |
| R&D/Flex Asking Rental Rates | |
| San Diego | $15.12 |
| Washington, D.C. | $12.25 |
| San Jose | $11.64 |
| Orange County, Calif. | $11.28 |
| Phoenix | $11.01 |
| Source: Grubb & Ellis | |
CONDO CONVERTS
Aging baby boomers — eager to own a home without the maintenance issues — are snapping up condominiums. The demand for condos is so high that it has driven the median U.S. condo price close to $200,000, above that of single-family homes, according to Economy.com. From 1996 to 2003, the number of sales of existing condominiums and cooperative housing projects has nearly doubled.