2014 real estate predictions: What’s on tap for housing, retail, office and industrial space this year

Las Vegas battered commercial real estate market is showing signs of life but remains a long way from full recovery.

Last year, investors snapped up properties, landlords signed new tenants, industrial buildings sprouted and developers pushed ahead with big retail projects.

Much of the same is expected this year, although the valley still faces big obstacles. Lease rates are low, vacancy rates are far above the national average, and despite some notable projects, development is relatively limited. New businesses are moving to Las Vegas and taking over empty real estate, but most local companies arent expanding and dont need additional space.

And the valleys unemployment rate remains high. In November, it was 8.6 percent, well above the 6.6 percent national average.

What more is in store for 2014? Here is a look at how the office, retail, apartment and industrial sectors might fare:

Despite meager improvements last year, Las Vegas still has one of the worst office markets in the country.

The city had a 21 percent vacancy rate during the fourth quarter of 2013, down slightly from 22 percent a year earlier, according to brokerage firm Colliers International. Research firm Reis Inc. put the valleys fourth-quarter vacancy rate at 26 percent, the second-highest in the country.

In 2005, during the boom, the rate was 8 percent.

The average asking rent was $1.87 per square foot last quarter, unchanged from a year earlier, Colliers said.

The market is far from dead, though.

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2014 real estate predictions: What’s on tap for housing, retail, office and industrial space this year