Traffic Patterns
Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM
SHORT-CHANGED
Short sellers are increasingly betting against regional mall REIT stocks.
Breaking Up
Not surprisingly, more retail investment deals are falling through.
ONWARD AND UPWARD
Many retail REITs posted gains in share prices of 3 percent or greater compared with July.
LOST STIMULUS
As the effects of the goverment’s stimulus package wore off, retail sales lost steam in July. Total sales fell by 0.1 percent, and core sales excluding autos and gasoline rose by 0.3 percent, the weakest performance since February. Layoffs, sliding home prices, high consumer debt burdens, difficult credit markets and stubbornly high gas prices are taking their toll. As a result, Grubb & Ellis projects leasing market conditions to bottom out in mid-2009.
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