According to Bob Sheehan, vice president of research, KeyPoint Partners, LLC has released The KeyPoint Report for Southern New Hampshire 2007/2008, a comprehensive report on the retail real estate market in the region.
The KeyPoint Report examines supply, vacancy and absorption, retailer activity, and market composition by store size and retail categories within the region. In a change from earlier years, this year's report covers a 17-month period, from October 1, 2006 through March 1, 2008. The report indicates that the supply of retail real estate totaled 27.7 million s/f, a moderate increase of 251,000 s/f, or .9%, compared to square footage at the end of the prior study period.
"Southern New Hampshire vacancy increased during the study period from 6.4% to 7.4%. The closings of Furniture World stores, which operated several different concepts in the region totaling 470,000 s/f, impacted the rate significantly," Sheehan said. "We also found that of the 226 stores that closed in the region during the study period, 62% were smaller stores, those less than 2,500 s/f."   Nashua, Manchester, and Salem continue to lead all communities in total retail space, each encompassing more than 3 million s/f. Bedford ranks a distant fourth at approximately 1.5 million s/f of retail space. Perhaps the healthiest markets among communities with at least 500,000 s/f of retail space are Hudson, Londonderry, and Bedford, all carryovers from 2006. These towns ended the study period with vacancy rates of 4% or less. Derry, Salem, and Milford remain in the top five among communities over 500,000 s/f with the highest retail vacancy rates.

The studied market includes 39 cities and towns in Southern N.H., representing more than 835 square miles and approximately 562,000 people (42% of the state population). The report is based on KeyPoint Partners' GRIID which maintains detailed information on virtually all retail properties located in key N.E. retail markets, representing more than 249 million s/f of retail space and nearly 60,300 retail establishments.

The KeyPoint reports can be accessed at KeyPointPartners.com. The KeyPoint Report for Greater Hartford, Conn. will follow shortly. For more information about KeyPoint Partners', contact Sheehan, at [email protected].