This week, transaction and development news came pouring out of the Southwest markets, where Phoenix continues to be a rising star. Institutional Property Advisors have completed $300 million of multifamily transactions in the last three weeks in Phoenix and Parallel Capital Partners acquired full interest in Two Arizona Center. On the development front, Fenix Development announced plans to build 265,000 square feet of class-A office and 44,000 square feet of retail space at The Watermark | Tempe on a speculative basis. Of course, Southern California markets were also very active this week, especially in Los Angeles, where Coretrust Capital Partners LLC has acquired Corporate Center Pasadena and Swift Partners acquired a 500,000-square-foot office campus in El Segundo. Here's a look at this week's trends, announcements and deals that you may have missed in Southern California, Utah, Arizona and Nevada.

BY THE NUMBERS

PHOENIX—Investment activity in the Greater Phoenix market has slowed this year, compared to the start of 2017. Sales of office buildings slowed approximately 11% from fourth quarter 2017 to first quarter 2018. The most dramatic decline was experienced in the category of properties ranging from $10 million to $25 million. The median price for office buildings sold in the first quarter fell to $139 per square foot, following a yearlong 2017 median price of $151 per square foot. Sales of industrial buildings also cooled during first quarter, slowing by 17%. Cap rates dropped into the mid-6% range at the end of 2017 and inched higher to an average of 6.8% during first quarter 2018. In retail, sales of shopping centers dropped by 30% from fourth quarter 2017 to first quarter 2018. Investors are proving to be more selective when evaluating shopping centers, which is likely one of the reasons sales velocity has slowed. Despite a decline in volume, sales prices for retail properties rose during first quarter to a median price of $193 per square foot. This is a rise of more than 60 percent over the median price for all of 2017.