According to Cushman & Wakefield’s report on Monday, the national industrial vacancy rate increased by 30 basis points to 6.4% in the third quarter, driven primarily by speculative deliveries of vacant properties. This was the smallest quarterly increase since Q4 of 2022.
In terms of overall net absorption, there was a decrease from 45 million square feet in Q2 to 29.5 million square feet in Q3. However, this is still a significant improvement compared to Q1’s absorption rate of only 21 million square feet. Since the beginning of this year, approximately96 million square feet have been absorbed.
Cushman & Wakefield’s senior director and Americas head of logistics & industrial research Jason Price stated that while vacancy rates remain below pre-pandemic levels due to slower new supply and soft overall absorption rates, they are still positive at less than7%. He also predicts that net absorption will more than double next year as leasing activity picks up with greater economic certainty.
The third quarter saw less than100million square feetof deliveries forthe first time sinceQ1of2022.The total amountofnew constructioninQ3was90million
squarefeet,the lowestsinceQ22020,and downby29%comparedtoQ22024.
