The local recession may not have ended, but figures tracking the overall commercial vacancies in Fayetteville are showing a slight improvement over last year. Information provided by the city showed Fayetteville’s overall commercial vacancy rate for 2011 at 21.22 percent. That rate decreased to 20.9 percent by the end of the third quarter of 2012.
The largest fluctuation in vacancy rates during 2011 and 2012 was in the banking sector. During the two-year period the vacancy rate was 20 percent during the first quarter of 2011 but dropped to an average of approximately 10 percent for the remaining three quarters of the year. In 2012, the banking vacancy rate crept back up and held steady at 14.6 percent for the first three quarters.
The retail vacancy rate had a 2011 high of 17 percent in the second quarter, though that rate decreased to 15.7 percent by the fourth quarter. The retail vacancy rate increased slightly to 15.9 percent in the first two quarters of 2012 and eased up to 16 percent in the third quarter.
Figures for industrial vacancies looked better during most of 2011, with a rate of 8.79 percent in the first quarter, increasing to 9 percent during the second and third quarters but ending the year at 11 percent. The 11 percent vacancy rate continued through the first three quarters of 2012.
Office vacancies across the city ranged from 15-16 percent during the first three quarters of 2011, then spiked to 23.8 percent during the fourth quarter. The rate decreased to 22.6 in the first quarter of 2012, then dropped to 21.1 percent in the second quarter and decreased slightly to 21 percent in the third quarter.
