(CHICAGO, IL) -- Real Estate Alert (REA), which offers weekly updates about risks and opportunities in the U.S. commercial property market, recently named Cushman & Wakefield the number one brokerage in U.S. raw land sales in 2019. According to REA, Cushman & Wakefield brokered $1.7 billion of the U.S. total of $5.2 billion of transactions in 2019, representing a 33.4% market share.
The ranking is based on sales of undeveloped land valued at $10 million or more. This marks the third consecutive year of growth in this sector, and a 4% increase from 2018. The ranking excludes properties with any significant existing structures, including buildings that buyers intend to tear down for ground-up development. Also excluded are sales of stakes in pending or ongoing construction projects.
According to Terry Jackson, Cushman & Wakefield’s San Diego-based Land Advisory Group Lead, "The market is still strong and I don't anticipate any significant changes in performance for this year. There is still a significant amount of capital available.” Jackson added, "Cycles don't die of old age. They die of fundamentals changing significantly. At this time, we don't see it happening. When there’s no [entitled] inventory left, the development community starts to buy land to entitle,” he said. “It is shifting where the activity is. Secondary and tertiary markets are where there are development opportunities that make financial sense.”
