The U.S. industrial market ended the third quarter with record-setting statistics with demand outpacing supply for the third quarter in a row.
In fact, the market absorbed 140.7 million square feet (msf) in Q3 2021 -- the most space ever absorbed in a single quarter of any year reported by Cushman & Wakefield, breaking the previous record from last quarter (126.4 msf).
This brought the year-to-date (YTD) 2021 absorption total to 365.9 msf, 98.0% above the same period in 2020, and also boasted the most absorption ever recorded in a single year with another quarter still to come.
“It is no secret that the main driver of this level of demand is the need for more ecommerce and third-party logistics space to keep up with the amount of digital sales of consumer goods exacerbated by the pandemic,” Cushman & Wakefield pointed out. “Though this trend may have accelerated due to Covid 19, it is here to stay.”
Warehouse/distribution space proved once again to be the strongest secondary property type with 338.9 msf of net absorption YTD.
Of the 81 industrial markets tracked by Cushman & Wakefield, 55 markets have seen more than 1 msf of positive net absorption and 25 markets have seen over 5 msf positive absorption YTD.
New leasing activity surpassed 200 msf for the fourth consecutive quarter at 207.9 msf and this brought the YTD total to 667.9 msf. “This level of demand is putting the market on pace to see the first year ever of new leasing activity surpassing700 msf by year-end, which nearly happened for the first time ever in 2020,” the company said.
It also noted that more than 75% of the U.S. markets tracked -- 61 of 81 -- posted year-over-year (YOY) increases in YTD new leasing activity.