Earlier this week, the National Association of Realtors released their quarterly, forward-looking index for the commercial real estate market.  The Commercial Leading Indicator for Brokerage Activity increased for the ninth straight quarter, up to 120.7.

The jump signifies a .5% increase from last quarter (120.3) and a 1.1% increase from a year ago (119.5).  This is “the highest on record” since 1990.

Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, spoke optimistically of the near future in the press release:  “Despite some signs of slower overall economic expansion, the rise in the index means net absorption of space in the industrial and office sectors is likely to expand over the next six to nine months.  In addition, an improvement in returns on investment implies healthy rent increases for commercial property owners… In short, the latest data suggests improved business opportunities for commercial real estate practitioners in the months ahead.”  Incidentally, this also spells good things for the commercial construction sector at large.

Click to jump to the press release or to the data since 2002.