Industrial Sector Reaches Supply Momentum

Last year, more than 350 million square feet of industrial space came online in the 117 markets covered by CommercialEdge, the highest level of new supply since the turn of the century. One-third of these markets delivered record levels of new supply in the last two years, including tertiary markets such as Little Rock, Ark., as well as emerging industrial hotbeds such as Philadelphia, Denver, Indianapolis, Columbus and Memphis. Established markets like Phoenix and Chicago followed this trend, with their planned pipeline predicting that supply levels will continue to further increase in the coming years, the latest CommercialEdge report shows.

The ongoing acceleration of e-commerce continues to drive demand for even more industrial warehouse space: Some 592.5 million square feet of industrial space was under construction across the nation at the end of February, accounting for 3.5 percent of total stock. Including planned projects, the pipeline amounts to 625.5 million square feet, or 7.1 percent of total inventory. Construction activity was concentrated in Dallas (38 million square feet), Phoenix (36.3 million square feet), Inland Empire (35 million square feet) and Indianapolis (26.9 million square feet).

National average full-service equivalent listing rates averaged $6.45 per square foot in February, up 440 basis points year-over-year. Rent growth was led by Southern California, with Orange County (7 percent increase year-over-year) leading the way in this aspect, followed by Los Angeles (6.7 percent) and Central Valley (6.5 percent). Meanwhile, a lease signed in the last 12 months averaged $7.35 per square foot, 90 cents more than the national average for all in-place leases.

Industrial vacancy nationwide clocked in at 5.2 percent in February, a 30-basis-point drop from the previous month. While California markets such as Inland Empire (0.6 percent vacancy), Los Angeles (2.5 percent), Central Valley (3.0 percent) and Orange County (3.5 percent) continue to have the tightest vacancies, Midwestern logistics hubs such as Columbus (1.2 percent), Indianapolis and Kansas City (3.3 percent) also recorded low vacancy rates.

Read the full CommercialEdge report.