Jekyll and Hyde for the Office Sector: NAI Beverly-Hanks Q1 2019 Commercial Market Report

Best Year Ever: NAI Beverly-Hanks 2018 Year End Commercial Market Report

Q1 2019 Commercial Activity:

Commercial sales transactions were sort of a mixed bag in Q1 2019. We saw 160 closings in the first quarter for $197 million compared to 160 closings in Q1 2018 for $290 million. In contrast, our median year-over-year sales price was very similar ($102/ft versus $107/ft). That tells us that there were a few very large transactions in 2018 that skewed the overall sales volume. Retail and multi-family sales were down considerably, while industrial and office were up. While office sales transactions were up, that was not the case for office lease transactions.

All information is as of 4/4/2019 as provided by CoStar.

  • 8 Industrial Transactions for $20.2 million
  • 21 Office Transactions for $56.2 million
  • 23 Retail Transactions for $21.9 million
  • 18 Multi-family Transactions for $45.4 million
  • 60 Land Transactions for $19 million

Q1 2019 Lease Activity:

Total lease transactions were down this past quarter, but vacancies remain low. The retail vacancy rate was unchanged at 1.7%. The industrial vacancy rate was slightly down at

3.0%. And the office vacancy rose from 2.3% to 2.6%. We will keep an eye on this sector because total office lease transactions dropped from 57 in Q1 2018 to 24 in Q1 2019.

All information is as of 4/4/2019 as provided by CoStar.

  • 15 Industrial Lease Transactions, Down 12 from Q1 2018
  • 24 Office Lease Transactions, Down 33 from Q1 2018
  • 31 Retail Lease Transactions, Down 8 from Q1 2018

Q1 2019 Residential Activity:

Beverly-Hanks President Neal Hanks, Jr. has delivered the Q1 2019 Real Estate Market Report. Watch the video below or continue reading below for a summation.

In a trend that began in the summer of 2017, the regional sales pace growth slowed to 0.3% over the last 12 months. Throughout the region, there continues to be an ample supply of homes for sale over $750,000. With the exception of Buncombe County, most counties are also well supplied in the moderate price ranges.

All told, Western North Carolina real estate markets are dull—meaning stable. After years of pendulum swings as the markets searched for balance, it appears we are closer to market equilibrium than we’ve been in almost a decade. Mortgage rates are staying low, national experts are not predicting a noticeable drop in unit sales, and our regional sales pace has remained consistent with last year’s pace.

Read more about Q1 2019 residential real estate activity.


All real estate is local. In order to make confident real estate decisions, we believe it is important for you to have timely and neighborhood-specific information. For more information about our commercial real estate market, ask your NAI Beverly-Hanks agent or click here.