Despite the continued economic recovery and the accelerated vaccine distribution,  commercial real estate acquisitions fell 59% in February as the lingering impact of the pandemic kept investors at the sidelines.

After sales surged in December due in part from the rush to close deals by the end of the year, commercial acquisitions collapsed anew in January 2021, with sales volume down 58% from one year ago.

The commercial real estate market is recovering, but the recovery is facing a difficult challenge amid social distancing and business opening regulations to control the spread of COVID-19.

The hotel sector has been struggling the most compared to other industries, but on a positive note, less than 2% of businesses have closed.

This issue looks at the latest trends across the commercial property markets (multifamily, office, industrial, and retail) and features two pieces on apartment rent trends and how financial volatility impacts commercial sales and prices.

Inside: Trends show a significant uptick in available office space through 2022 Q1; an analysis of the factors that determine if a retail space should be repurposed based on the three fundamental building blocks of logistics: transportation, warehousing, and inventory.

An examination of workers in the office and remote workers and an analysis of food delivery service and revenues indicate that the demand for commercial real estate is moving toward new norms.

While COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the hotel, office, and retail property assets, it brought out the durability of the industrial property market and accelerated e-commerce and warehousing employment.

The commercial real estate sector continues to struggle as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The hotel and retail property markets are the heaviest hit, while multi-family and industrial are performing relatively well, with the office sector in the middle of the pack.

Because of the coronavirus, dine-in closures and an increase in delivery growth, in essence, have converted every operational restaurant into a ghost kitchen.