Market trend Long Island commercial real estate stats: A look at retail, office and industrial

The market trend in Long Island is looking quite good. In the 4th quarter of 2013, the retail, office and industrial markets have all either decreased their vacancy rates or seen rates hold steady. Let's take a closer look at the good news in each of these three areas. Retail Market: Long Island Retail Vacancy Rate Decreases to 4.6% The Long Island retail market, which includes both Nassau and Suffolk Counties, ended the 4th quarter of 2013 with a vacancy rate of 4.6%, which is a slight improvement over the 3rd quarter where the vacancy rate stood at 4.7%. The vacancy rate continues to decrease with a net absorption of positive 79,097 s/f; this data can be compared to the 3rd quarter where the net absorption totaled positive 518,989 s/f. We have also seen rental rates increase from the 3rd quarter ending at $29.45 per s/f. Overall, these numbers bode quite well for Long Island in general. In fact, the Long Island retail vacancy rate is well below the national retail vacancy rate, which stands at 6.6% with an average rental rate of $14.59 per s/f. Office Market: Long Island Office Vacancy Rate Stays at 7.8% The Long Island office market, which also includes both Nassau and Suffolk Counties, ended the 4th quarter of 2013 with a vacancy rate of 7.8%. This fact is significant in that the vacancy rate remains unchanged with a net absorption of positive 26,905 s/f. This compares to positive 405,714 s/f in the 3rd quarter of 2013. Additionally, office rental rates are going strong with the 3rd quarter ending at $26.59 per s/f, which marks an increase from the previous quarter. All of these factors combined, it is safe to state that the office market is looking quite good in Long Island. Just one look at the national office vacancy rate serves to highlight just how good the numbers are. Currently, this rate is 11.5% with average rental rates of $22.06 per s/f. Industrial Market: Long Island Industrial Vacancy Rate Stays at 5.2% The 4th quarter of 2013 saw a vacancy rate of 5.2% for the Long Island industrial market. This means that the vacancy rate remains unchanged with a net absorption of positive 76,087 s/f. This compares to positive 1.01 million s/f in the 3rd quarter of 2013. As for rental rates, they also increased from the 3rd quarter and ended at $11.76 per s/f. In general, Long Island's vacancy rate is looking positive, and compares very well to the national industrial vacancy rate. Currently, the national U.S. industrial vacancy rate is 8% with average rental rates of $5.36 per s/f; this is in contrast to the Long Island vacancy rate of 5.2% and a rental rate of $11.76 per s/f, which serves to showcase the strength of the Long Island industrial rental environment. Ron Koenigsberg is the president of American Investment Properties, Garden City, N.Y.