Achieving pride of place on Ten-X's shopping list for investors in retail properties are Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Austin and Tampa. Ten-X cites robust local economies fueled by consistent job and population growth as the primary reason these markets are running counter to national trends. In Miami, for example, vacancies have dropped to a cylical low of 5.7%, while investors can expect NOI to grow by roughly 10% this year, although growth will moderate in 2018.

Baltimore, Milwaukee, Oakland, Memphis and Cleveland represents the top five markets in which Ten-X Research suggests that market conditions might prompt investors to consider selling their retail holdings. The firms says these cities serve as a testament to weak economic and demographic indicators prevailing in much of the Midwest and Northeast.

Ten-X notes that e-commerce, which represents the single largest secular threat to traditional retail, now comprises more than 13% of the industry's sales, including both pure-play and omni-channel online merchants. That means “agonizingly slow” growth in retail fundamentals.

Online's share has been rising for years and shows little signs of slowing, leading big-box retailers to either close or downsize many of their stores. Ten-X reports that hedge funds have increasingly been shorting REITs and bonds tied to shopping malls, thus whipping up the headwinds already buffeting the sector.

IRVINE, CA—Look to the Sunbelt for the nation's top “buy” markets when it comes to retail assets, Ten-X said Tuesday. The five markets, including three in Florida and two in Texas, have been able to defy a national trend toward stagnation in the sector.

Ten-X's first-quarter report on US retail finds that nationally, effective rents posted a 1.9% increase from a year-ago and now exceed their pre-recession peak. Meanwhile, vacancies ticked down by 10 basis points to finish Q1 at a national average of 9.9%. Deal volume in the sector was $18.6 billion, marking a 22.4% decline from the same period in 2015.

“Consumers have been turning away from traditional retail for years, which is creating a more challenged and fraught landscape for investors,” says Peter Muoio, chief economist at Ten-X. “While healthy economic conditions and strong housing markets are fueling the sector in some areas of the Southeast and West, even those regions would bear the brunt of weakening absorption and falling rents that could push vacancies to recession-era levels in the event of any cyclical economic headwinds.

Muoio says the problems inhibiting retail's growth are “anything but a passing phase.” He adds, “The mounting shift toward online shopping ensures the sector will continue to face a steep climb on its road to recovery.”

Achieving pride of place on Ten-X's shopping list for investors in retail properties are Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Austin and Tampa. Ten-X cites robust local economies fueled by consistent job and population growth as the primary reason these markets are running counter to national trends. In Miami, for example, vacancies have dropped to a cylical low of 5.7%, while investors can expect NOI to grow by roughly 10% this year, although growth will moderate in 2018.

Baltimore, Milwaukee, Oakland, Memphis and Cleveland represents the top five markets in which Ten-X Research suggests that market conditions might prompt investors to consider selling their retail holdings. The firms says these cities serve as a testament to weak economic and demographic indicators prevailing in much of the Midwest and Northeast.

Ten-X notes that e-commerce, which represents the single largest secular threat to traditional retail, now comprises more than 13% of the industry's sales, including both pure-play and omni-channel online merchants. That means “agonizingly slow” growth in retail fundamentals.

Online's share has been rising for years and shows little signs of slowing, leading big-box retailers to either close or downsize many of their stores. Ten-X reports that hedge funds have increasingly been shorting REITs and bonds tied to shopping malls, thus whipping up the headwinds already buffeting the sector.