Kevin Thorpe

Austin, Texas posted the highest percentage of retail rental growth in the country during the first quarter of 2012 with an increase of 3.4 percent, according to Cassidy Turley, a national real estate services provider. Charlotte, N.C. came in second with 2.9 percent growth and Oakland-East Bay, Calif. came in third with 2.7 percent growth. Nationally, Cassidy Turley reports the first quarter of this year saw the first decline in retail vacancies since the recession.