U.S. shopping mall vacancies reach 8-year high
- Vacancies in U.S. shopping malls hit an eight-year high, though some regions are faring better with retail upheaval than others, according to data from Reis, part of Moody's Analytics.
- The data, which tracks 77 metro areas, show 9.4% of units were unoccupied in Q3, equaling a post-financial crisis high reached in 2011.
- Some 17 cities, though, had a vacancy rate under 7%, as San Francisco led with a 4.1% rate. On the other hand, 24 cities had vacancy rates above 12%, including Memphis, Buffalo, and Albuquerque.
- Rates improved over the past year for 43 cities, including Chicago, Seattle, and Las Vegas.
- But rates worsened in several areas that already had a higher-than-average proportion of empty stores. Retail vacancies rose 2.4 percentage points in Syracuse, NY, over the past year to 14%.
- Previously: Forever 21 joins the mall graveyard (Sept. 30)
- Mall REITs: SPG, SKT, PEI, MAC
- ETFs: XLP, XLY, VDC, XRT, VCR, IBUY