CRE Price Growth is Slowing but Still Going

In science and engineering it’s the difference between what calculus calls the first and second derivatives: how fast something is changing and then the shift in that rate of change. For commercial real estate properties overall, April was good news in the former and, depending on the view, less happy tidings for the latter, according to Real Capital Analytics. 

The RCA CPPI National All-Property Index from MSCI was up 17.9% year over year in April. Industrial (26.0% growth) and multifamily (23.0%) were the leaders. Retail saw an 18.4% boost. Office, up by 11.8%, varied by the type of location, with central business district properties rising 12.3%, significantly higher than the 10.3% lift for suburban. Property prices in general were up 19.8% in major non-metro areas compared to 11.8% in major metros.