Enkele quotes uit de conforence call van MAC. Ze zijn daar erg positief gesteld op het komende herstel. Net als hier op het forum :-)
As we indicated last quarter, we expected occupancy to hit its lowest level in the first quarter. And in fact, it did at 88%, which is slightly lower than the low point coming out of the financial crisis in 2009. Post-GFC, by mid-2011, we were back to 92% occupancy, the absorption of space happened fairly quickly. We expect to see a similar recovery post-COVID,
The leasing environment has significantly improved. Leasing volumes were very good in the first quarter, on par with the first quarter of 2020 when leasing was largely unimpacted by COVID.Last week, we had 95 deals to approve. That’s just in a two-week period. That’s 256,000 square feet.
If we annualize that pace, we would be doing deals for this year for roughly one-third of our non-anchor space. Now, I’m not predicting we’re going to see that volume every two weeks, but it is an indication of the strength of the leasing environment.
Sales are also picking up significantly. I’m comparing now the first quarter of ‘21 here to 2019, not 2020. Portfolio-wide, during the first quarter of 2021, sales were 2% higher than the first quarter of 2019, excluding the still restricted food and beverage category.
and we expect significant gains in occupancy and net operating income as we move through ‘21 and into 2022.
Based on what we are seeing, we believe this leasing demand should enable us over the coming years to grow occupancy to normalized levels to fuel strong operating growth and to continue to diversify our town centers with more relevant uses and experiences. We are also seeing our transient revenues return in a very positive fashion. Temporary tenant leasing demand is strong, and we expect growth in temporary tenant occupancy as we continue to source permanent replacements.
As Tom alluded to, and it’s worth reiterating, I think, the real indicator lies in Arizona, where all facets of business have been wide open for quite some time. March sales in our Arizona properties were up 18.2% over March 2019 with the first quarter of 2021 up 7.2% over first quarter 2019.
What’s probably most noteworthy about our leasing activity is the amount of new and renewal leases signed through mid-April 2021 is actually outpacing the number of leases signed during the same pre-COVID period in 2019. And 2019 was an extremely high-volume year for Macerich from a leasing standpoint.
Traffic is lagging sales a little bit. I’d say traffic is back to roughly 80% of pre-COVID where sales are approaching 100%, which means a couple of things, a higher capture rate. Those consumers are coming in focused in buying, but also it’s a function of us not having the food courts fully open and the restaurants fully open. That’s where you tend to get a lot of traffic and a lot of dwell time.
Yes. Samir, it’s always a balancing act between filling space as well as pushing for rate. And I think, we’re going to see similar to what we saw coming out of the great financial crisis. There’s going to be a little pressure on rate in order for us to fill some of these extracurricular vacancy that we have, as a result of COVID. So, I think, we’re going to continue to see flat spreads probably for the next 1.5 years or 2 as we see the space being absorbed and get back to a more normal level of 91%, 92% occupancy.
-> met andere woorden; gelijkblijvende huur niveaus voor de komende 2 jaar om de lege plekken te vullen.
Maar kennelijk wordt 8% leegstand niet als erg gevonden.
Al met al zijn ze dus ondanks ze belabberde cijfers erg positief gestemd. Je zag de koers ook gedurende de dag flink omhoog kruipen.
Dus wie weet zal het voor URW ook wel meevallen.