ORLANDO—The ICSC Florida Conference & Deal Making event in Orlando is over, but the industry is still buzzing about it. Avison Young principal John Crotty offers analysis in this exclusive interview. You can also read his colleague Michael Fay's take on the overarching theme of ICSC.

“Overall, retail sales are up with a national total of $45 billion worth of transactions to-date this year,” Crotty tells GlobeSt.com. “Cap rates have been falling consistently since 2010 and have compressed 30 basis points to a national average of 6.6%. As properties are becoming more valuable, consumer confidence continues to be positive, and in advance of projected interest rate increases, there has been a dramatic uptick in investor activity.”

Crotty facilitated one ICSC roundtable discussion called “Where are the buying opportunities?” He says one common observation was that local, regional and national retailers and buyers alike are increasingly becoming attracted to the secondary and tertiary—quality demographic suburban—markets within the State of Florida.

“While high-street real estate such as on Lincoln Road and Miracle Mile continue to be premier, these opportunities are scarce and new supply of this type are not expected to come on line,” Crotty says. “Therefore, value-add and redevelopment opportunities are getting snapped up quickly as well.”

On the retail sales side, he saw an ongoing trend topic throughout the conference was that institutional groups are looking to sell non-core properties to create leaner portfolios. Crotty says the property types of optimum interest include strong-anchored shopping centers and outparcel units such as banks, both of which are becoming ever more scarce due to bustling activity.

“We are still below the historic high sales volume levels we reached when the market was its hottest in 2006,” Crotty says. “As such, there is still room for growth in pricing and sales volume.”