Florida CRE industry has 12-figure annual impact

Florida's commercial real estate industry contributed $189.4 billion to the state's economy in 2017, the third most of any state in the nation, according to an annual economic impact study.

Only California and Texas generated more, the survey from a George Mason University professor in Virginia funded by the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks found.

The Sunshine State also ranked third of the 50 states in direct spending -- including labor, materials and management — on commercial real estate, with $99.8 billion last year. Again, only Texas and California were bigger spenders.

Florida came in fifth in total economic impact in 2017, with a total output of $19.3 billion, behind only California, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania.

“Construction spending has increased each year since 2011, gaining 54.6 percent between 2011 and October 2017,” Stephen Fuller wrote in NAIOP's Economic Impacts of Commercial Real Estate 2018 Edition.

“Nonresidential building construction spending has increased 37% between 2013 through October 2017, reflecting an increase of $126.7 billion in construction spending over this period.”

Not surprisingly, Florida's retail and entertainment and warehouse sectors outperformed much of the nation last year.

The state's $66.3 billion in total output in the retail and entertainment sector was topped only by Texas, the NAIOP survey concluded, the result of higher than normal levels of spending on hard costs like construction, site development and soft costs such as legal fees, architectural designs and engineering work.

The nation's third most populous state also ranked third for spending on warehouse development and construction last year, as well, with a total output of $6.54 billion, behind only Texas and California.

And while Fuller contends the U.S. economy will continue to exhibit positive growth through 2020, the NAIOP study cautions that rising interest rates, labor shortages, energy prices and the 2017 federal tax law could have significant repercussions that could ripple through the economy and impact recovery.