GRA's Jim Sempere

On Sept. 15, Global Real Analytics in San Francisco and GlobeSt.com entered into an agreement to provide market data on the website tailored to the investment market. The three reports that form the basis of the offering provide data and analyses in a highly digestible form– MarketSource . But the packaging of the material shouldn’t overshadow the content, and that’s designed to accomplish two goals, according to GRA COO James Sempere. Sempere explained that the data levels the playing field for investors of all stripes and as it does, it provides a new degree of transparency. How does the service accomplish these goals? In an exclusive interview, Sempere explained it all. Read on:

GlobeSt.com: In analyzing the data, what did you find was the biggest surprise?

Sempere: There were a couple of things. I was impressed with the continued resiliency of the retail sector over the past few quarters, although it’s waning. Consumer spending is still fueling the economy, but it seems to be slowing down, given the way July and August retail sales failed to meet economists’ predictions. Our expectations are that there will be continued slowing in retail, but it’s not going to turn negative. Another surprise was the strong price appreciation in both the retail and the apartment sector. In apartments, the year-over-year increase was 5.5%, and it was 7.8% in the retail sector. Overall, I’m surprised that real estate continues to do as well as it does.