NORTHBROOK, IL-Boulder Group's "Q3 Net LeaseMarket Report," which provides information about net-leasedproperties nationwide, notes that cap rates forsingle-tenant, net-lease properties have remained more or lesssteady year over year, while the development pipeline is stillmainly empty. Though national asking cap rates for officeproperties declined slightly from the year before (dropping from8.25% to 8%) and asking cap rates for industrial propertiesincreased (from 8% to 8.2%), the asking cap rates on retailproperties remained at 7.5%

The report, issued from locally based Boulder Group, explainsthat the retail property cap rates are unchanged because of aplateau of investor yield thresholds as cap rates continue athistoric lows. Though the 10-year treasury's decline halted duringQ3, cap rates weren't impacted because of a still-sluggishdevelopment pipeline.

Q3 saw a 7.8% decrease in supply for all three property sectors,leading to increased competition among net-lease investors. As aresult of the increased competition, the bid-ask spread compressedby an average of six basis points compared to Q2.