REALTORS® reported that sales acquisitions declined for all property types except for land and industrial properties. REALTORS® reported that their sales transactions volume in the fourth quarter contracted on average by 2% year-over-over. NAR commercial members’ transactions are typically below $2.5 million (small commercial market). Among transactions of at least $2.5 million, Real Capital Analytics reported that sales declined 56% year-over-year.
By property type, REALTORS® reported the strongest increase in sales transactions for land, at 3%, followed by sales/acquisitions of industrial properties which rose 1%. Among land transactions, the largest gains were in sales of recreational land (e.g. for camping), ranches, and residential land. This could be related to increased interest in land outside urban centers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With 46% of businesses in food services and accommodation reporting they are only operating at half-capacity compared to one year ago1, REALTORS® reported an average decline of 5% in their sales transactions of hotel/hospitality properties. And with about 25% of the workforce still working from home2, sales transactions of REALTORS® for office and apartment properties were down 1% to 2%.
Full report from NAR HERE