State of Industrial Market
Two-semi-annual research reports on the state of the nation’s industrial property market were released by ProLogis, a global provider of distribution facilities and services.
The U.S. Property Market Review indicates continued strong market conditions for developers of industrial distribution space. The average industrial vacancy rate across the country’s top 30 markets fell to 7.6% in the fourth quarter of 2006, compared to 8% the year before. Asking rents, meanwhile, increased 1.7% during the fourth quarter and 7.6% over the full year.
The U.S. Construction Pipeline Report showed that new construction of warehouse/distribution facilities slowed during the last six months of 2006. New starts totaled 59 million square feet, compared with 81 million square feet in the first half of the year. For the year, total new starts equaled 2.7% of existing inventory.
Other findings in the report: