Retail Q1: Low Availability and Construction Slow Absorption

The Q1 2026 retail reports agreed on several things. First, negative net absorption rates were reported across all five write-ups, with the lone exception being CBRE’s “U.S. Retail Figures.” Still, “multiple bankruptcy filings triggered a wave of closures, which added available space to the market,” the CBRE analysts explained. Second, those bankruptcy backfills are being...