Property owners, reaping steady returns, aren't parting with holdings. The incentive to sell real estate isn't there, at least not with the stock market being so volatile. It's good steady income, consumer sales are high and occupancy on the average is 95% in Texas' Big 4 of Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. And, the few who do sell have would-be buyers pushing the price, say area executives.

The hottest ticket, if it can be found, is a grocery-anchored center. There's ample quality product, but not an ample supply of willing sellers, Jim Batjer, senior director of Dallas-based Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, tells GlobeSt.com. These days, many owners are electing to refinance instead of sell. Leading retail brokers in Dallas-Ft. Worth and Austin concur all the way down the line with Batjer's assessment of the market.

The Holliday Fenoglio Fowler investment sales team has hawked just 10 centers, with an aggregate 2 1/2 million sf, in three years. The bottom line was $350 million.