In real estate, total stock is the total rentable area (RA), in square metres, of a specific real estate asset class, within a defined geographic region, at a point in time, excluding all space that has acquired building permits but that has yet to reach completion, and excluding conceptual developments.
This encompasses all completed space within the bounds of the definition above, no matter who the owner or tenant of the space is. This is because any space can be sold, bought and leased, and ownership and tenancy are transient by nature.
For an accurate analysis, the geographic area must be well defined. A demand-supply analysis should look at a specific real estate asset class (a.k.a property category). For example, this could be for office space within a specific office node in a city, or it could be for single-family housing for an entire city. One cannot compare apples with pears. The housing market differs greatly from the office market.
Total stock is distinct from projected total stock (a defined future point in time). Think of total stock as being the supply of real estate at the current moment in time. Projected total stock is the current total stock added to the stock that is predicted to be completed by the defined future point in time.
There are other useful terms to consider when exploring the dynamics of a real estate market. Vacant space, nominal vacancy rate, structural vacancy rate, shadow space, expanded vacant space, delivery, on hold, stalled development, abandoned development and pipeline entries. These are all important concepts that form the makeup of real estate supply and demand.
