Annual Retail Sales Remain Strong; Property Fundamentals Resilient
- Consumers tapped brakes on spending last month. Core retail sales dipped 0.7 percent on a monthly basis in July.
- Restaurants a bright spot for sales. Diners showed little hesitation in July, pushing spending at eating and drinking places up 1.7 percent for the month, and 38.4 percent annually.
- Inflation weighs on several sectors. Rising energy prices continued to fuel an increase in sales at gasoline stations last month, where spending increased 2.4 percent, the second largest advance.
New Factors Emerge
- Vaccine passports gain momentum. Two of the nation’s largest cities, New York and San Francisco, have implemented vaccine mandates that will limit access to most retailers for those who are not vaccinated.
- Health crisis emergency measures ending. Without an extension, the federal unemployment benefits expire nationwide on Sept. 6, which will remove income from millions of people out of work.
Sources: Marcus & Millichap Research Services; Bureau of Labor Statistics; Conference Board; CoStar Group, Inc.; U.S. Census Bureau