According to a recent report by Cushman & Wakefield, port-proximate industrial real estate markets in the United States, such as Seattle, continue to thrive despite a decrease in imports and an economic downturn. These regions are commanding high rents and have low vacancy rates. Despite declining volumes at ports across North America, there is still 2.3 million square feet of new industrial supply under construction.
Seattle’s market experienced net losses in the first half of 2023 with a vacancy rate of only 3.5%. However, strikes in Canada and on the West Coast caused delays and supply chain issues that affected overall import levels for the year. Nevertheless, annual U.S imports are expected to finish higher than they were in 2019 by about three percent.
Despite economic challenges faced by these port regions, they are normalizing while remaining tight with modest rent growth projected for the future. This makes Seattle one of top performing port-industrial markets according to Cushman & Wakefield’s report.
