"Given the many store closures across the U.S., the minimal changes in vacancy rates show how the retail sector has withstood the structural changes in the industry. Many feared that vacancy rates would soar and rents would plummet. This did not occur as the doomsday prognostications proved to be overblown."

-Barbara Denham, a senior economist at the real estate research firm Reis, in an interview with CNBC last week. The CNBC report noted that the vacancy rate at regional and super regional malls was 9 percent in Q4. Overall, U.S. retail vacancies remained flat at 10.2 percent.