NAR launches quarterly index for commercial real estate demand

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has rolled out a Commercial Real Estate Demand Index that tracks early economic drivers of space demand across 306 U.S. metro areas, offering landlords, lenders and investors a forward-looking view of local office, industrial, retail and multifamily markets, according to an announcement on Tuesday. The index is designed to capture shifts in demand before they appear in traditional market indicators such as vacancy, rents or completed leasing, NAR said. It focuses on local economic conditions that typically precede new space needs, including job growth in key sectors and population changes. NAR built the index from publicly available government data and updates it quarterly. It combines four property-type subindices: Office: Growth in professional and business services employment Industrial: Growth in manufacturing, transportation and warehousing employment Retail: Growth in retail trade and leisure and hospitality employment Multifamily: Population growth and net migration, both domestic and international The four components are then weighted to create an overall score: office (22%), industrial (28%), retail (22%) and multifamily (28%). Hi...