· Data as of 2Q 2026 · Ironmark research
The single-tenant net-lease market entered mid-2026 in an orderly reset rather than a stress event. In Q2 2026, all-sector single-tenant net-lease (STNL) cap rates rose two basis points to 6.82% and the retail segment sat at 6.60%; U.S. net-lease investment volume rose 13% year over year to $12.8 billion; and for-sale listings climbed about 12.5% in the quarter to nearly 5,800. Underneath that flat headline, the new supply is concentrated in lower-credit product — investment-grade tenants on long leases are now under 10% of retail supply — while a restored 100% first-year bonus depreciation changes the after-tax math on every fee-simple acquisition. Those four readings frame the quarter. This page is the web edition of the Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief, 2Q 2026 (statewide), published August 2026.
All market figures on this page: Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief, 2Q 2026. Underlying sector and capital benchmarks are named in Sources & Methodology below. Published August 2026.
What Happened in Net Lease in Q2 2026
The Q2 2026 story is a market that has finished its price discovery and is now sorting on quality. After roughly two years of cap-rate expansion off the 2022 trough, movement has flattened — and the action has shifted from what is it worth to a widening gap between the credit-and-duration deals investors want and the lower-credit product that dominates the tape. Four threads run through the quarter:
- Supply is up, but quality is down. The number of single-tenant net-lease properties on the market climbed about 12.5% in the quarter to nearly 5,800, with retail driving the bulk of the increase at +16.2%. Critically, that new inventory is weighted toward non-investment-grade tenants and shorter remaining terms. Assets that check every box a conservative buyer wants — investment-grade corporate guaranty, ten or more years of term, absolute-NNN structure, scheduled escalations — are now under 10% of retail listings.
- Pricing has flattened, not fallen. The all-sector STNL average rose just two basis points to 6.82%, essentially unchanged, and the retail segment’s five-basis-point uptick to 6.60% reflects the mix of new lower-credit supply more than any deterioration in prime pricing. Spreads to the 10-year Treasury remain thinner than the historical norm, which continues to cap how far quality cap rates can drift in either direction.
- Capital is re-engaging at the new frame. U.S. net-lease investment volume rose 13% year over year to $12.8 billion in Q2 2026. Industrial led the total at $8.1 billion, but retail net lease added $2.9 billion, up 6%. The bid-ask gap on quality is narrowing as sellers accept the re-based cap-rate frame and buyers, newly armed with a restored first-year depreciation benefit, underwrite to after-tax yield.
- The scarce input is credit, not deals. For the private and 1031 buyer, retail single-tenant is the relevant arena — a market with high deal count where the binding constraint is not finding a listing but finding the right one. The two-tier split is the defining feature of the quarter, and it rewards buyers who can source credit and duration before it competes on the open market.
What Are Single-Tenant Net-Lease Cap Rates in 2026?
Single-tenant net-lease cap rates in Q2 2026 ranged from 6.45% for auto parts to 7.85% for drug stores, with the all-sector average at 6.82% and retail single-tenant at 6.60% (Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief, 2Q 2026). Dispersion across tenant types is wide, and it is where underwriting discipline earns its keep. The lesson for Florida buyers is precise: the tenant, the guaranty and the remaining term drive the cap rate far more than the four walls.
| Sector | Average cap rate, Q2 2026 | Versus the retail average |
|---|---|---|
| Auto parts | 6.45% | Tighter |
| Retail — all STNL | 6.60% | Blended retail benchmark |
| Overall STNL, all sectors | 6.82% | Wider |
| Dollar store | 7.49% | Wider |
| Drug store / pharmacy | 7.85% | Widest |
Reading the spread. Auto-parts product prices tightest on the strength of corporate guarantees and long terms; convenience and gas, strong-operator QSR, and bank branches generally transact inside the retail average; medical, casual dining, and weaker-credit dollar and pharmacy product trade wider. Source: Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief, 2Q 2026.
The practical read for an owner or a buyer is that a 140-basis-point spread separates the tightest and widest categories above, and almost none of that spread is about construction quality. It is about who signs the lease, whether the parent guarantees it, and how many years are left. An investor comparing a 6.45% auto-parts asset with a 7.85% pharmacy asset is not comparing two prices for the same thing — those are two different risk positions with two different renewal questions. Ironmark underwrites the credit and the remaining term first, then the real estate, then the price.
Why Is Investment-Grade Net-Lease Supply So Scarce?
Investment-grade tenants on long leases fell below 10% of retail net-lease supply in Q2 2026, even as total listings rose about 12.5% to roughly 5,800 (Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief, 2Q 2026). The market is not short of listings; it is short of the right listings. A crowded field of higher-cap, higher-risk product now sits beside a thin, competitively bid pool of true credit-and-duration deals.
That is a two-tier market, and it changes what a buyer is actually shopping for. When more than nine in ten retail listings fail at least one of the four conservative tests — investment-grade corporate guaranty, ten or more years of remaining term, absolute-NNN structure, scheduled rent escalations — screening on cap rate alone reliably surfaces the wrong assets first. The common and expensive mispricing in this market is paying a credit-tenant cap rate for non-credit risk: a franchisee guaranty priced like a corporate one, or six years of remaining term priced like twelve.
For a 1031 buyer working against an identification clock, scarcity at the top of the quality range is the operative constraint, not deal count. That is the argument for sourcing before a property competes on the open market, and it is why Ironmark’s buyer representation work on net lease starts with an off-market canvass rather than a listing search. Buyers using an exchange should read the mechanics and deadlines on 1031 exchange advisory alongside this brief.
Is Capital Still Buying Net Lease?
Yes — U.S. net-lease investment volume rose 13% year over year to $12.8 billion in Q2 2026 (Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief, 2Q 2026). Volume is led by industrial, but retail single-tenant is the field for the private and 1031 buyer, where deal count is high and credit-and-duration quality is the scarce input.
| Property type | Q2 2026 net-lease volume | Change year over year |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial | $8.1B | +28% |
| Retail | $2.9B | +6% |
| Office | $1.8B | −21% |
| All net lease | $12.8B | +13% |
U.S. net-lease investment volume by property type, Q2 2026. Source: Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief, 2Q 2026.
The composition matters as much as the total. Industrial carried the quarter and office kept shrinking, but retail’s modest +6% is the number that speaks to a private Florida buyer, because retail single-tenant is where the deal count and the exchange-sized price points live. What the volume figure proves is narrower than a bull case and more useful: sellers are accepting the re-based cap-rate frame, buyers are meeting them there, and the bid-ask gap on quality is narrowing. Owners still pricing to 2021 comparables are pricing to a market that no longer clears — a point worth testing against a current property valuation before going to market.
Why Does Net-Lease Demand Concentrate in Florida?
Florida is where national net-lease demand pools, for structural rather than cyclical reasons: no state personal income tax, sustained population and rooftop growth, and a deep standing pool of out-of-state exchange buyers. Ironmark’s read is that prime Florida net lease — a corporate-guaranteed tenant on a long absolute-NNN lease in a growth corridor — typically prices at or slightly inside the national sector medians, while secondary locations and weaker credit widen out in line with, or beyond, the national ranges.
The pull: no state personal income tax
The absence of a state personal income tax draws both residents and capital into Florida, deepening the buyer pool and underwriting the tenant sales that support rent. Florida does levy a corporate income tax, so the shorthand describes individuals rather than every corporate buyer; how it applies to a specific entity is a question for that entity’s CPA.
The growth: rooftops feed new term
Population and rooftop growth pull new-construction net lease — quick-service restaurant outparcels, urgent care and dental, oil-change and car-wash — into the Florida pipeline, where the freshest lease term and the strongest cost-segregation basis live. New construction is also where an owner-operator or developer can create exactly the product tax-motivated investors compete to buy.
The bid: a deep, standing buyer pool
Out-of-state 1031 exchangers, retiring owner-operators, physicians and business owners, and family offices keep quality Florida product competitively bid — which is why paying a credit cap rate for non-credit risk is the common mispricing here. Florida’s buyer depth is an advantage on the sell side and a discipline problem on the buy side.
Data note. Granular Florida-only STNL cap-rate series are not published on the same cadence as national net-lease data. Ironmark anchors to the national sector benchmarks cited below and layers Florida demand context and direct deal observation on top, rather than inferring precise Florida-only cap rates. This brief publishes no Florida-only cap-rate figure. Where a specific asset warrants it, Ironmark underwrites from live comparables in that submarket.
How Does 100% Bonus Depreciation Change Net-Lease Underwriting?
The most consequential change to net-lease underwriting in 2026 is a tax one. Under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, there is a permanent 100-percent additional first year depreciation deduction for qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025 — stated by the IRS in Notice 2026-11, announced in release IR-2026-06 on January 14, 2026. For a fee-simple buyer, that turns cost segregation back into a first-year event rather than a slow drip, and it is why after-tax yield has re-entered the conversation alongside the headline cap rate.
How it works: reclassify, then expense
A cost-segregation study moves components out of the 39-year line into 5-year personal property, 7-year equipment, and 15-year land improvements — paving, parking, landscaping, site lighting. With 100% bonus depreciation available for qualifying property, those reclassified components are eligible to be written off in the first year rather than over decades. The mechanics, and who performs the study, are covered on cost segregation.
Why it matters: compare after tax
The brief’s argument is that after-tax yield, not the headline cap rate, is the right comparison between two net-lease assets. A lower-cap-rate property with a large depreciable improvement basis and a higher-cap-rate property with almost none are not comparable on cap rate alone once first-year depreciation is applied. That comparison depends entirely on the buyer’s own tax position, including the passive-activity rules, and it is a model to build with a CPA rather than a rule of thumb to apply. Ironmark does not publish an expected deduction, an effective rate, or a dollar outcome, because none of those can be known without the property, the study and the taxpayer.
Structure: fee simple is what unlocks it
Fee-simple ownership of the improvements is what creates depreciable basis. Ground leases convey land only, and leasehold or zero-cash-flow positions are structured around debt and lease payments rather than an owned improvement, so neither generally serves a cost-segregation objective. Newer fee-simple retail, where the improvement share of basis is highest and the lease term is longest, is the structure most consistent with a first-year depreciation strategy.
The conditions this rule carries
A depreciation rule stated without its conditions is worse than none, so three qualifications belong with the headline. First, eligibility runs from the acquisition date — qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025, subject to the written binding contract rule — while the deduction itself is claimed for the year the property is placed in service; those are two different tests and two different dates. Second, 100% is not automatic: IRS Notice 2026-11 confirms a taxpayer may instead elect to deduct 40 percent (60 percent for certain property with longer production periods and certain aircraft) for qualified property placed in service during the first tax year ending after January 19, 2025. Third, what qualifies, how basis is allocated, and whether a deduction can be used in the year it arises all turn on facts specific to the property and the taxpayer. Source: IRS Notice 2026-11 / IR-2026-06, January 14, 2026.
Informational only — not tax or legal advice. Ironmark Capital Advisory is a Florida commercial real estate brokerage. Ironmark is not a CPA firm, a tax advisor, or a law firm, and nothing on this page is advice about any specific property, entity, or taxpayer. The tax material here is general information about published federal rules, with the IRS guidance named so it can be read at source. Eligibility, timing, elections, and the usability of any deduction depend on facts this page does not know. Work with your own CPA and attorney before acting, and with your qualified intermediary on any exchange. Information obtained from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed; verify prior to any decision. Nothing herein is tax, legal, or investment advice.
What Q2 2026 Means If You Are Buying, Selling, or Occupying
Ironmark’s read on this window: it favors disciplined buyers who can move on credit and duration while pricing the tax benefit into their basis — and who avoid paying credit-tenant cap rates for non-credit risk. What that looks like depends on which side of the market you are on.
Investors and 1031 buyers: credit, duration, after-tax
Buy credit and duration at a fair cap rate, fee-simple, so that first-year depreciation remains available. Underwrite the after-tax yield rather than the cap rate alone. Prioritize a corporate guaranty, ten or more years of remaining term, absolute-NNN structure, and scheduled escalations; treat ground leases and leasehold structures as separate plays that do not serve a cost-segregation objective. With fewer than one retail listing in ten meeting the full credit-and-duration test, sourcing ahead of the open market is the difference between a fair price and a bidding contest.
Owners and sellers: price into the new frame
The re-based cap-rate frame is established and capital is transacting at it, so price to today’s market rather than to 2021’s. Quality draws a competitive, frequently all-cash 1031 bid, often inside the sector median — which is the practical reward for the scarcity described above. Owners weighing a disposition should start from a current valuation and a defined buyer process; that is the work described on investment sales and seller advisory.
Occupiers and operators: real estate as a tool
If you own the real estate under your operating business, a sale-leaseback converts a static asset into deployable capital at a defined, long-term rent — and in a market starved for credit tenants, a strong operator can structure favorable terms. This is the path many Florida owner-users take toward retirement: the business keeps its building on a lease it wrote, and the equity becomes something else. New-construction net lease that an operator creates is exactly what tax-motivated investors compete to buy. Ironmark’s net-lease advisory page covers both sides of that trade.
Sector Benchmarks at a Glance
The table below is the brief’s reference block. Four sectors carry a hard Q2 2026 benchmark; the remaining four are positioned qualitatively against the retail average because the brief does not publish a discrete number for them. Read the right-hand column as the reason for the spread — in every case it is a credit or duration question, not a building question.
| Sector | Pricing vs. retail avg. | Q2 2026 benchmark | What drives it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auto parts | Tighter | ~6.45% | Corporate guaranty, long terms; among the tightest categories |
| QSR (strong operator) | At / tighter | Near retail avg. | Corporate vs. franchisee guaranty is the swing factor |
| Convenience / gas | At | Near retail avg. | Operator credit and fuel-brand strength drive dispersion |
| Bank branch | At / tighter | Near retail avg. | Strong credit; branch-rationalization risk on renewal |
| Retail — all STNL average | — | 6.60% | Blended benchmark |
| Medical / dental | Wider | Above retail avg. | Often regional credit; site specificity matters |
| Dollar store | Wider | ~7.49% | Supply-heavy; tenant credit and vintage drive spread |
| Drug store / pharmacy | Widest | ~7.85% | Tenant-credit and store-closure questions weigh |
Sector positioning and benchmarks, Q2 2026. Qualitative rows are not numbers and should not be read as one. Source: Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief, 2Q 2026.
Buying, selling, or exchanging into net lease in Florida? See Ironmark’s net-lease advisory, 1031 exchange guidance, or read every Florida market brief.
Buying, selling, or exchanging into Florida net lease?
Tell Ironmark what you are working on — an exchange with a clock running, a building your business occupies, or a net-lease asset you are underwriting. You will get a straightforward read on where it sits in this market, with no obligation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average net-lease cap rate in 2026?
All-sector single-tenant net-lease cap rates averaged 6.82% in Q2 2026, up two basis points on the quarter, and retail single-tenant net lease averaged 6.60%, up five basis points. Dispersion by sector is far wider than those averages suggest: auto parts averaged 6.45%, dollar stores 7.49% and drug stores 7.85%. Source: Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief, 2Q 2026. Any individual asset prices off its tenant, guaranty, remaining term and location rather than off a sector average.
Are Florida net-lease cap rates different from national cap rates?
Granular Florida-only single-tenant net-lease cap-rate series are not published on the same cadence as national net-lease data, so Ironmark does not infer a Florida-only cap rate and the 2Q 2026 brief publishes none. Ironmark anchors to the national sector benchmarks and layers Florida demand context and direct deal observation on top. Ironmark’s read is that prime Florida net lease — a corporate-guaranteed tenant on a long absolute-NNN lease in a growth corridor — typically prices at or slightly inside the national sector medians, while secondary locations and weaker credit widen out in line with, or beyond, the national ranges.
Why is investment-grade net-lease product so hard to find in 2026?
The number of single-tenant net-lease properties on the market climbed about 12.5% during Q2 2026 to nearly 5,800, with retail listings up 16.2%, but that new inventory skews toward non-investment-grade tenants and shorter remaining terms. Assets that check every box a conservative buyer wants — an investment-grade corporate guaranty, ten or more years of remaining term, an absolute-NNN structure and scheduled escalations — are now under 10% of retail listings. Source: Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief, 2Q 2026.
Is capital still buying net lease at these cap rates?
Yes. U.S. net-lease investment volume rose 13% year over year to $12.8 billion in Q2 2026. Industrial led the total at $8.1 billion, up 28% year over year; retail net lease added $2.9 billion, up 6%; office was $1.8 billion, down 21%. Source: Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief, 2Q 2026. Capital is transacting at the re-based cap-rate frame rather than waiting for 2021 pricing to return.
Does 100% bonus depreciation apply to a net-lease purchase in 2026?
The One, Big, Beautiful Bill provides a permanent 100-percent additional first year depreciation deduction for qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025 — subject to the written binding contract rule, under which property is not treated as acquired after that date if a written binding contract for its acquisition was entered into earlier (Pub. L. 119-21 §70301(c)(4); interim guidance at IRS Notice 2026-11), announced in IR-2026-06 on January 14, 2026. That same guidance confirms a taxpayer may instead elect to deduct 40 percent, or 60 percent for certain property with longer production periods and certain aircraft, for qualified property placed in service during the first tax year ending after January 19, 2025. Eligibility turns on the acquisition date while the deduction is claimed for the year the property is placed in service, and those are two different tests. Ironmark Capital Advisory is a real estate brokerage and not a tax advisor: confirm how any of this applies to a specific purchase with your own CPA.
Why does net-lease demand concentrate in Florida?
Florida has no state personal income tax, which draws both residents and capital into the state and deepens the buyer pool that underwrites the tenant sales supporting rent. Florida does levy a corporate income tax, so the no-income-tax framing describes individuals rather than every corporate buyer. Population and rooftop growth pull new-construction net lease — quick-service restaurant outparcels, urgent care and dental, oil-change and car-wash — into the Florida pipeline, where the freshest lease term and the strongest cost-segregation basis live. Out-of-state 1031 exchangers, retiring owner-operators, physicians and business owners, and family offices keep quality Florida product competitively bid.
Should an operator who owns their building consider a sale-leaseback now?
Ironmark’s read in the 2Q 2026 brief is that operators who own the real estate under their business should evaluate a sale-leaseback while credit tenants are scarce. A sale-leaseback converts a static owned asset into deployable capital at a defined, long-term rent, and in a market short of investment-grade tenants a strong operator has room to structure favorable terms. Whether a sale-leaseback fits any particular business depends on rent coverage, lease term, entity structure and tax position, which is a conversation for the operator, their CPA and their attorney alongside Ironmark.
Sources & Methodology
National STNL benchmarks anchor the pricing in this brief; Florida demand context and Ironmark’s direct deal observation are layered on rather than inferring Florida-only cap rates, as flagged in the Florida data note above. Figures are accurate as of retrieval and subject to provider revision. The Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief is published quarterly; this is the 2Q 2026 statewide edition, published August 2026.
- Cap rates by sector — The Boulder Group, “Net Lease Market Report — Q2 2026.” Retrieved August 2026.
- Investment volume and sector mix — CBRE Research, “U.S. Net Lease Investment Figures — Q2 2026.” Retrieved August 2026.
- For-sale listing counts and investment-grade supply share — The Boulder Group, “Net Lease Market Report — Q2 2026.” Retrieved August 2026.
- Bonus depreciation — IRS Notice 2026-11, announced in IR-2026-06, January 14, 2026: a permanent 100-percent additional first year depreciation deduction for qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025, with an election to deduct 40 percent (60 percent for certain longer-production-period property and certain aircraft) for qualified property placed in service during the first tax year ending after January 19, 2025.
- Florida market context and deal observation — Ironmark Capital Advisory research.
Information obtained from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed; verify prior to any decision. Nothing herein is tax, legal, or investment advice.
More Ironmark Research
Ironmark Capital Advisory publishes quarterly Florida market briefs alongside this statewide net-lease edition. See all Ironmark market reports and insights, or read the metro industrial briefs for Miami-Dade, Tampa, Orlando, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville and Lakeland. Related advisory pages: net lease · 1031 exchange · cost segregation · investment sales · buyer representation · property valuation · industrial outdoor storage.
Ironmark Florida Net-Lease Brief — Statewide Edition, 2Q 2026. Published August 2026 by Ironmark Capital Advisory. Prepared by Ironmark Capital Advisory research; this brief is Ironmark’s own analysis and commentary and is informational only — it is not tax, legal, appraisal, or investment advice. Contact Ironmark at (561) 621-5450 or hello@ironmarkcre.com. © 2026 Ironmark Capital Advisory.