December 2019

Despite some mixed reports earlier in the year, and the sometimes conflicting assessments of those who track statistics and trends, the end of year forecast for the coming year—across the nation—is relatively bright.

According to Kiplinger's economic outlook, states face challenges on several fronts, but U.S. revenue is on the rise—both from sales of goods and personal and corporate taxes—marking serious and robust growth not experienced since before the Great Recession. That's good news, but the forecast isn't equally encouraging for all states and regions.

Healthy tax revenues are expected to continue for the next several quarters, due to continuing low employment and slowly rising incomes. Coupled with modest inflation and high energy prices,

Even though there were some mixed signals earlier in 2019, the Minneapolis and St. Paul office forecast for the year is expected to remain strong, performing better than the national average. The summer Yardi-Matrix Report provides an in-depth glimpse at local market activity for the first six months of the year.

Key Points of Pride

Although the report notes that year-over-year sales activity was somewhat slower in June, overall the annual gain is expected to exceed 2018's $1.4 billion volume, an impressive achievement. And that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of good news for the Twin Cities market.

The local market is seen to be strong, no matter what specific numbers are examined:

• Demand for office space remains high;
• Asking