The latest Beige Book, prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, summarizing comments received from businesses and other contacts outside the Federal Reserve, was released this week. As BBC notes, growth appeared to slow in several regions across the US in May, with the manufacturing sector notably sluggish, which the Fed blamed on the disruption to supply chains from Japan's earthquake. An excerpt from the real estate portion of the report:
Commercial and industrial real estate markets have generally been steady since the last report, though there have been scattered signs of a pickup. Commercial leasing markets showed modest signs of improvement in the Richmond and San Francisco Districts. Boston and Dallas noted some firming in property sales markets, but Kansas City reported declines in prices for office buildings. Non-residential construction, though widely reported to be at very low levels, rose modestly in the Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Dallas Districts, though Chicago noted that public sector projects are becoming smaller. Cleveland observed a pickup in industrial and high-end commercial development but a pullback in healthcare-related projects. Richmond reported some pockets of strength in the retail market. More broadly, contacts in a number of Districts expressed a general sense of optimism about the outlook for the second half of 2011.
To real the full report, click here. For more news and information, visit Blumberg Capital Partners.
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