Institutional Investors Lift Q1 Retail Property Deals Above $15 Billion as Vacancies Hold at 4.4%
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Jun 4
Institutional Investors Lift Q1 Retail Property Deals Above $15 Billion as Vacancies Hold at 4.4%
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Jun 4
Summary
$15 billion-plus of U.S. retail property changed hands in the first quarter, up 5% from a year earlier and marking the strongest first-quarter volume since 2023.
JLL said investors are returning because retail vacancies remain low at 4.4% even though more stores closed or shrank than opened, with limited new construction tightening supply.
Institutional buyers drove that shift, accounting for nearly 24% of multitenant retail investment over the past 12 months — their biggest share since 2017 — as they chased higher yields than other commercial sectors.
$100 million-plus transactions made up 26% of retail investment from Q1 2025 through Q1 2026, versus 13% in 2023, but owners say too few trophy assets are trading to meet demand.
That scarcity is pushing investors toward selective core-plus and some value-add bets, with deals increasingly hinging on clear cash-flow math rather than turnaround hopes.