Over the 12 months ended March 31, lifestyle and power center sales volume barely topped $1.8 billion, a steep 72% YOY (year over year) decrease. Other retail strip sales fared about the same with a 74% drop year over year. Sales were $276 million for Q1’09, off 54% from Q1’08 but a surprising 129% jump from Q4’08. However, lifestyle and power center investors continue to achieve 94.4% of asking price while sellers of other strips only achieved 92.5%. Lifestyle and power centers made up 12% of retail sales.

On a per-square-foot basis, average pricing for lifestyle and power centers was up 15% versus a negligible 2% bump up for all other retail. Still, cap rates rose in all categories after three years of decline, climbing 90 bps for lifestyle and power centers and 48 bps for other retail. The top 25% of lifestyle and power center properties sold for $238/PSF at a 6.5% cap rate; the bottom 25% of the niche sold for $115/PSF at caps of 7.5%.

Private investors were the most active, acquiring 35% and disposing of 43% of lifestyle and power centers on a dollar volume basis. Institutional and foreign investors bought 28% of all properties and sold 33%.

The Southeast and West posted the most regional sales volume with both achieving nearly $450 million, while the East Bay was the only market to surpass $200 million in activity.