What's your market look like?

[Greg V.]

I just wanted to get the pulse of everyone's market. In our suburb markets of the Twin Cities, we seem to have hit a slow patch. Last year was really busy but this year has been really quiet with a drop off in tenants looking for office/retail space. We still haven't seen the lease rates come back to pre-recession highs. Depending on the property, the rates are still off about 30%. The slow down is making me a little nervous about our local economy. Anybody else?

[Joel Owens]

New business permits are up. Tenant sign on's are up as well.

Most of my clients even if they live in a cold belt state are investing in the sun belt states. That seems to be where a ton of retirees and young demographic are moving too which is fueling big gains in population growth and job diversity.

I still have clients in cold belt states. Chicago and Ohio seem to have demand in the good areas. We tend to focus on demo's that are 75,000 median income or higher unless a college town. We do not like the low income to moderate income areas regardless of cap rate as they tend to have less expendable income in an economic downturn and are hit hardest the most.