Quarterly Analysis

>>Shopping centers and office buildings are hot commodities to buy in Collier County-if you can find them. Leasing rates in Lee County have stabilized, making it a good time to upgrade. While the growth of all three sectors has slowed in Charlotte County, industrial has held its own better than the other sectors. Here is a look at the three counties.

Collier County

The number of retail projects coming online has led to a temporary glut of space. Marketing time, which previously ran between two and four months, currently can take up to three times that long, according to Andrew Saluan, president of Naples-based AJS Realty Group. "Because of the overabundance of space that is being built right now, our rent rates are going to flatten out for a certain period of time before they continue on their upward trend," he says.

With cap rates in the mid to high 6 percent range for anchored shopping centers and 7 to 8.5 percent for unanchored centers, "shopping center sales is still a very strong market, [but] the availability is almost nonexistent," he says.

Office space is also being snatched up. "We are still in a position where we can't build them fast enough," says Andy D'Jamoos, vice president of sales and marketing for J.E.D. of Southwest Florida. "Over the next year or two things will be coming out of permitting and buildings will be going up." Vacancy rates will creep upward and help stabilize leasing rates.

J.E.D.'s office space sells for an average of $325 per square foot.

Unlike with retail and office, demand for industrial space is weak. Sales prices are stable, starting at $125 and going up to $225 per square foot.

"I think they will be steady in the short-term," says Mike Carr Sr., of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT in Naples. "In this market, probably 50 percent of the industrial market is related to the housing industry, which is just holding its breath."

Lee County