I love live broadcasting. I love it when we get “on-the-spot” reports from our guests in the field, and that’s exactly what we did recently from the University of Florida and the Kelley A. Bergstrom Center For Real Estate Studies in Gainesville.
These folks have a Master of Science in Real Estate Program that’s second to none, and we had a chance to talk to the center’s director – Tim Becker – about their most recent Survey of Emerging Market Conditions in Florida.
“Real estate has been improving across the state for the better part of two and a half years now,” he said. More people are moving into the state, and tourism is healthy.
That’s leading to some improvement in most sectors of commercial real estate, Becker said. Hospitality is smoking in South Florida. Statewide, multifamily is the best product on the market.
“Everyone wants a piece of multifamily because of the demographics,” he said. As interest rates keep rising, those who wanted a house might be forced to rent for a while.
Becker said even retail has picked up, and office is the only product type to lag due to weak job creation. No surprise there.
With a great location and tremendous assets such as UF, I think Gainesville is poised to become a regional powerhouse of an economy. And the latest evidence, Becker said, is the development of Innovation Square, a public/private business and technology incubator located near the university and downtown.
Another key city to watch going forward is Jacksonville, Becker said, which has seen substantial economic improvement in the last two years. I think he’s right. It’s not as vulnerable to hurricanes as some Florida cities, and it has great land prices and labor costs. Jax is situated to take advantage of the post-Panamax class shipping as it becomes more commonplace.
Don’t miss the Bergstrom Center’s report. This is a must-read.