Taking together all types of centers — malls and open-air — base rents rose by 2.1 percent in 2017, to $19.56 per square foot. Net operating income (NOI) also rose, by 2.1 percent, to $19.11 per square foot, while the occupancy rate was 93.1 percent.

These numbers are based on a properties sample taken by NCREIF, a Chicago-based provider of investment performance indices and data for U.S. commercial properties.

Base rents at malls increased by 3.9 percent across the U.S. last year, compared with 2016, and NOI was up by 3.8 percent. Mall occupancy essentially held steady, at 93.5 percent, versus 93.6 percent in 2016.

Malls in the Western U.S. saw the highest increases in base rent (up by 8.4 percent) and NOI (up by 7.5 percent) last year, while those in the East ended the year with the highest occupancy rate, at 95.3 percent.

Base rents in open-air centers — a category covering neighborhood, community and power centers — rose by 1.5 percent nationally, and NOI went up by 1.4 percent.

The South had the best-performing open-air centers last year, with rents increasing there by 3.1 percent and NOI rising by 2.4 percent, and occupancy at 93.5 percent.

“The numbers tell the true story,” said Jean Lambert, vice president of ICSC Research. “Retail real estate continued to perform robustly last year as it successfully embraces change and evolution in the marketplace.” 

Additional information is available at ICSC’s QuickStats, where inquirers may browse for shopping center income and expenses in the U.S.