Colliers: National retail vacancy rate hits 4.3% in Q3
Retail vacancy continued to remain near historic lows in the third quarter.
New data from Colliers found that the national retail vacancy rate dipped to 4.3%, a decrease of 10 basis points, in the period as limited new supply continues to keep availability tight. Net absorption reached 10.5 million square feet in the third quarter, the highest quarterly total since 2023, supported by continued retailer expansion and the backfilling of available space.
By property type, malls saw 1.9 million square feet of absorption, while shopping centers had 3 million square feet and general retail saw 5.4 million square feet get absorbed. Mall vacancy was 8.2% to end the third quarter, while shopping centers had a vacancy rate of 5.4%.
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Colliers’ data revealed that Los Angeles (5.9%), Houston (5.4%), Dallas-Fort Worth (5.1%), Chicago (5.0%) and Detroit (4.8%) metro areas had the highest retail vacancy rates.
In the third quarter, average asking rents reached $26.20 per square foot, up 0.7% from the previous quarter. Honolulu ($55.83), New York City ($54.44) and Miami ($50.42) notched the highest asking rents per square foot.
“While headline rent growth continues to normalize, underlying leasing fundamentals remain strong, with limited availability, improving retailer productivity, and healthy tenant demand supporting steady rent growth,” Colliers said.
Retail construction totaled 58.1 million square feet in the third quarter, with 7.6 million square feet delivered. Colliers noted that elevated construction and financing costs continued to constrain new development.
The top five metro areas with the highest amount of new retail under construction in the quarter were Dallas-Fort Worth (7.2 million square feet), Houston (5.1 million square feet), Austin (3.2 million square feet), Phoenix (2.4 million square feet) and Chicago (1.8 million square feet).
