The recent up-tick in consumer spending has resulted in an increase in demand for retail space. Since the multi-family and office had been showing improvement, this is a good sign the economy is starting to pick up.
On a local level, Miami Today reported the following increases in November:
- Total taxable sales are up 7.5% from last year
- Autos and accessories taxable sales are up 14.8%
- Tourism and recreation taxable sales are up 14.2%
- Hotel occupancy up 8.6% with daily room rates up 3.5%
- Building investment taxable sales up 4.9%
At a commercial meeting yesterday, the main spaces people were looking for were restaurant space and shopping/retail centers. The majority of the investors looking were from Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil.
Although our unemployment rate is high in Miami, the fact that tourism is up and investors are coming back to commercial, seems to indicate we have turned a corner.