Vacancy rates at U.S. shopping centers and malls rose to the highest levels in at least 10 years in the first quarter, accompanied by a drop in rents that wiped out years of growth, research firm Reis said on Wednesday, adding that no improvement was likely soon.
"Until we see stabilization and recovery take root in both consumer spending and business spending and employment, we do not foresee a recovery in the retail property sector until late 2012 at the earliest," Victor Calanog, Reis director of research, told Reuters.
(Source: CNBC)