The Inland Empire retail market recorded 319,000 square feet of negative net absorption during the third quarter.
As dismal as that number is, it’s an improvement compared with the second quarter of this year, when 419,000 more square feet of retail space was vacated than was leased in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to CBRE.
At the close of the third quarter, 6.6 percent of the Inland region’s retail space was available for lease, a slight increase from the second quarter.
Only two submarkets saw positive net absorption, the High Desert and South Riverside County. The east end had the most vacated.
Retail investment sales in the Inland Empire reached $145.8 million in the third quarter, an increase of $18.1 million compared with the second quarter.
The average retail rent in the third quarter was $1.78 per square foot, a quarter-over-quarter decease of five cents. This was the result of landlords offering concessions in order to lease their space quicker, the report stated.