The nation's shopping centers shifted into neutral during the first quarter, ending a strong year of improving vacancy rates, according to a new survey. Rents in shopping malls fell for the first time in a year, but rents in strip malls rose. For mall owners and operators, the business environment is good. The vacancy rate for shopping malls remained at the lowest point in 3½ years in the first quarter, leveling off at 5.3%, according to the survey of the top 62 U.S. markets by Reis Inc., a New York-based commercial real-estate research firm. But the mall industry, which soared through the economic downturn and stock-market crash on the strength of the seemingly imperturbable U.S. shopper, remains vulnerable to any slowdown in consumer spending. There's more where that came from! Click here to access the full article. This article was published on April 22, 2005 by By Ryan Chittum, a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal.