The United States retail market is showing improvement with availability rates dropping, according to a new forecast from the CBRE Group.

CBRE is forecasting that the availability rate will drop to 10.6 per cent in 2014, and fall below 10 per cent by 2015. In the third quarter of 2013, the retail availability rate was at 12.3 per cent, compared to 12.7 per cent at the end of 2012.

“Consumers remain cautious, as the economic recovery has not provided enough confidence for them to spend at an above-average pace,” says Abigail Rosenbaum, economist at CBRE Econometric Advisors. “This caution has kept retailers from rapidly expanding, and the demand recovery at retail centers remains muted.”

New construction of retail is expected to remain low in 2014, with total deliveries of 8.1 million square feet across the U.S. As a result of the supply and demand ratio, landlords will achieve rent growth in 2015, at an average of 2.5 per cent.

Over the next two years, CBRE predicts that San Francisco, Denver, Nashville, Austin, Dallas and Charlotte will lead rent growth within the country.