Latitude Commercial has released its 2024 Annual Marketing Report, a detailed document that provides extensive analysis of the commercial real estate market in Northwest Indiana. Prepared by Latitude’s team of experts, the report offers insights for investors, property owners, and businesses across all sectors – from retail to industrial.
The report dives into market trends, economic factors, and real estate outlooks to offer a comprehensive economic view of the Region. It is headlined by a letter from Latitude President and Co-Founder Aaron McDermott, CCIM. The outlook, he notes, is promising.
“In 2024, the commercial real estate market in Northwest Indiana remained resilient even with fluctuating economic conditions,” he said. “The year was marked by significant developments across various sectors, including office, industrial, retail, and investment properties. Looking ahead to 2025, it’s a market poised for continued adjustment and growth.”
After McDermott’s letter, the report takes extended looks at the various sectors of commercial real estate, analyzing trends in data such as months on the market, sales volume, vacancy rates, and more. It begins with the retail sector, where Northwest Indiana broke a national trend of weakness.
“The retail sector continues to show strength, with vacancy rates reaching a four-year low of 3.74% in Q3 in the area,” McDermott said. “Market asking rents hit a four-year high of $17.49 per square foot in Q3, ending the year at $17.46 per square foot.”
The office market, meanwhile, remained quite stable. Latitude noted steady sales volumes and vacancy rates, a continued upward trend in asking rents, and a slightly longer time to sell compared to the previous year.
“Despite global market instability and high inflation, the Northwest Indiana office real estate market has remained stable throughout 2024,” McDermott said. “The increasing demand of remote and hybrid work models continues to affect the office market with a growing demand for flexible work spaces and technology infrastructure to support remote work. This trend is expected to continue, with Northwest Indiana being the beneficiary of that.”
Trends in the industrial market showed substantial growth, aligning well with the national market. Latitude noted about 1.6 million square feet of new retail space was added each quarter, with asking rates rising and sales volumes surging. 2025, McDermott notes, is poised to see a more stable year in this sector.
“It’s expected to stabilize as supply aligns more closely with demand, with not a lot of large spec deliveries expected,” he said.
The investment market experienced a more turbulent year. It responded significantly to the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates and economic uncertainties.
“The investment real estate market in Northwest Indiana aligned with national trends which showed inconsistency due to the fluctuation of interest rates and the instability of a presidential election,” McDermott said. “In 2025, investors should get more adaptable and expect minimal interest rate shifting. Some projections show the Fed may cut rates by a total of 50 basis points over the year. However, those cuts always seem to take some time to actually lower interest rates and flow through to borrowers.”
The report also includes information about property management, such as maintenance charges, occupancy rates, and tax information. It also breaks down demographic information, such as household size and median incomes, education data, employment rates, and much more.
To see the full report for free, and to learn more about Latitude Commercial, visit latitudeco.com/annual-market-report-2024/.
