Palomar Press Briefing | February 24, 2021

INDUSTRY NEWS

February 24, 2021

AUGUSTA MULTIFAMILY MARKET UPDATE Q1 2021

The Augusta Multifamily Market has been hot over the past couple of months. Even with the new supply, year-over-year rent growth has held between 3% and 5% over the past few years. Growth in 3 Star assets leads the way at 4.8% year over year, while 4 & 5 Star assets boast an impressive 3.8%.

WHICH RETAILERS SKIPPED JANUARY RENT

After Christmas, the rate at which U.S. retail landlords collected rent dropped slightly, according to Datex Property Solutions. Movie theater rent collections declined by 44.3 percent from December to January. Hair collections fell by 9.2 percent, and salon collections shrunk by 3.2 percent.

AT HOME RESUME NATIONAL GROWTH STRATEGY

At Home Group has opened its first new stores of the year. The value home decor retailer opened three stores on Feb. 3: Nanuet, N.Y.; Johnstown, Col.; and Ocean Township, N.J. At Home will also open a store in San Jose, Calif., later this month. The new additions will give the retailer a total of 222 locations in 40 states by the end of February.

U.S. SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS APPROACH 2021 WITH OPTIMISM, ANTICIPATE CHANGE

After a year fraught with economic challenges, U.S. small business owners are reflecting on lessons learned from 2020. Despite the hardships they collectively experienced, owners are feeling optimistic about what’s in store for 2021.

RETAIL REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY REPORT Q4-2020

ICSC’s fourth quarter industry report shows some signs of improvement within the retail real estate industry through the end of 2020, though challenges remain. Despite the unprecedented year and the impact of the pandemic, total retail and food services sales grew year over year.

REITS CONTINUE STRONG PERFORMANCE IN 2021

REITs rose again last week with a 1.5% total return on the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs index. This is the fourth week out of the past five that REITs have gained more than 1%, and last week’s increase put REITs up 4.8% for the first six weeks of the year. Most property sectors increased last week.