Commercial Real Estate Fundamentals Point to Steady Growth

After gross domestic product revisions, business spending shows growing confidence in the first half of the year. The first quarter spending was down 4.6 percent, with a decline driven by a 25.7 percent drop in spending on commercial structures. However, the second quarter posted a much better performance, with an annual growth rate of 4.6 percent. Spending on commercial buildings rose 6.8 percent. Businesses also increased their spending on information processing and transportation equipment by 11.4 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. The new component of business spending—intellectual property products—rose 3.9 percent in the second quarter, boosted by software and R&D.  Read more…