Martens Companies 

US Hotel Occupancy Up Slightly (0.1 Percent) to 54.1 Percent for December 2018

The U.S. hotel industry reported positive results in the three key performance metrics during December 2018, according to data from STR. In a year-over-year comparison with December 2017, the industry posted the following: • Occupancy: +0.1% to 54.1%• Average daily rate (ADR): +1.8% to US$124.28• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +1.9% to US$67.20 “The industry continued its record-breaking demand run and sold more rooms than any other December on record, but the growth in number of rooms available is now basically in equilibrium with demand growth,” said Jan Freitag, STR’s…

Read More
Martens Companies 

Industrial Property Appraisal Services

Martens Appraisal provides expert industrial property commercial appraisal services throughout Wichita and Kansas including Sedgwick, Butler, Reno, Harvey, Sumner and Kingman Counties. Experienced Appraisers Our industrial appraisal team is lead by Carter Girrens, MAI. Carter’s primary area of practice focuses on all types of industrial facilities including manufacturing, distribution and storage warehouse. An area of particular attention is on large industrial facilities in Kansas located outside the major metro areas. We appraise industrial properties, such as: Single-tenant Multi-tenant Owner occupied Net leased R&D Manufacturing Flex Showroom Condo Industrial park/campus Automotive Warehouse…

Read More
Martens Companies 

What is Commercial Real Estate? CRE Defined

Commercial Real Estate (CRE) is defined as any property owned to produce income. This could include just about anything, including: the neighborhood coffee place you stopped at this morning an apartment complex a multistory office building a manufactured housing community a hotel on the interstate From an investment point of view, commercial real estate encompasses any kind of property, including land, which brings or has the potential to bring income. From a business point of view, commercial real estate is any offering of office, retail, industrial, medical, hospitality, and other…

Read More
Martens Companies NAI Martens 

Class B Apartment Rental Rates in Wichita Expected to Rise in 2019

National Real Estate Investor recently ran this article about multifamily rental rates. The NAI Martens multifamily team of Jeff Englert and Nathan Farha, CCIM reviewed the article and provided a Wichita perspective. In Wichita, Class B has traditionally been the most stable property class. NAI Martens’ most recent multifamily update reported that in 2018 Class B rental rates increased across the board, with the exception of two-bedroom rents, with an overall average Class B rate of $0.79/SF. For 2019, Englert and Farha are predicting that Class B rents will continue…

Read More
Martens Companies 

Fed Beige Book: Little change to CRE on Balance

Overall Economic ActivityEconomic activity increased in most of the U.S., with eight of twelve Federal Reserve Districts reporting modest to moderate growth. Nonauto retail sales grew modestly, as several Districts reported more holiday traffic compared with last year. Auto sales were flat on balance. The majority of Districts indicated that manufacturing expanded, but that growth had slowed, particularly in the auto and energy sectors. New home construction and existing home sales were little changed, with several Districts reporting that sales were limited by rising prices and low inventory. Commercial real…

Read More
Martens Companies 

Update on Kansas Economic Conditions

Wichita State’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research is a great source of information on economic conditions throughout Kansas. From time to time we like to bring you the latest updates. CEDBR Releases January Employment Forecast Kansas total nonfarm employment increased by approximately 20,000 workers from November 2017 to November 2018, a 1.4 percent increase, with growth across most sectors. This was a substantial upturn in employment after near-zero employment growth in the state in 2016 and 2017, with only a cumulative 0.2 percent increase over those two years.…

Read More
Martens Companies 

Financing Commercial Properties in 2019: What Investors Need to Know

In spite of rising interest rates and global economic turmoil, U.S. capital markets have proven resilient. Last year has been a record year for the real estate community. Investment activity and the velocity of transactions reached record highs, and fundamentals in many markets across the U.S remained strong. This late cycle success has many wondering if we will experience a softening or market correction in the new year, and what this means for investors, especially in terms of financing. As a mortgage banking firm with more than 30 years of expertise…

Read More
Martens Companies 

Why choose Martens Appraisal?

Wichita’s #1 Commercial Appraisal Company Simply put: We know commercial real estate better than anyone else. Since 1948 Martens Appraisal has been providing commercial real estate services to Wichita and South-central Kansas. Unmatched Credentials Under the leadership of Steven J. Martens, who recently received the Kansas CCIM Chapter’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Martens Appraisal team is made up of experienced and specialized appraisers including four who hold the MAI designation, the Martens Appraisal team has over 100 years of combined commercial real estate appraisal experience. Experienced Appraisers The Martens Appraisal…

Read More
Martens Companies 

18 Commercial Real Estate Trends To Dominate in 2019

As the new year approaches, Bisnow spoke with several industry execs, researchers and economists to uncover the major trends expected to dominate the commercial real estate industry in the coming year. From the rise of opportunity zones to a slowdown in industrial absorption, these are 18 trends experts forecast for 2019. 1. Opportunity Zones Craze To Persist As investors await finalized guidance from the Department of the Treasury and the IRS regarding the Opportunity Zone program, the hunt is on for assets and investment opportunities in these designated areas that present the strongest upside…

Read More
Martens Companies 

Hotel Occupancies, Rent Growth Remain Strong, with a Positive Outlook for 2019

Hotels are doing better than ever. More rooms have been occupied in 2018 at higher rents than ever before. “We are at peak performance—and we don’t expect that to change much,” says Jan Freitag, senior vice president of lodging insights for research firm STR. https://www.nreionline.com/hotel/hotel-occupancies-rent-growth-remain-strong-positive-outlook-2019  

Read More