The Fall of the Mall

[click to enlarge][source]

Compares sales in the first quarter of 2009 to the same quarter in 2008. "The deeper the red, the steeper the loss."

Comments

[Mad Hedge F...:]

It's about to get a lot worse. The imminent demise of General Motors (GM) will be a nail in the coffin for the commercial real estate market, which I believe will be the financial crisis of 2009. Some 2,000 dealers are being axed, dumping hundreds of millions of square feet on to a market that least wants it. These were the guys who sponsored the local baseball team and Girl Scout cookie sales, and their absence will rip the hearts out of hundreds of American communities. Much of this is prime space, near dense populations, with great frontage, adjacent retail space, completed site work, mitigated environmental work, and already zoned for commercial use. Some might get turned into mini malls, but I’m afraid more will end up as indoor climbing walls and paintball battlefields. Commercial real estate sales are off 73% this year, while vacancies have catapulted to 16.7%. Banks have seized 464 properties so far in 2009, including $7 billion worth in March alone, and thousands more are on the brink.

May 31 12:36 PM