IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
To no one’s surprise, the Inland Empire industrial market performed spectacularly during the second quarter of this year.
About 9.2 million square feet of industrial space was absorbed into the Inland market during that time, bringing the amount absorbed during the first half of this year to 11.8 million square feet, according to Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s second quarter report on the Inland industrial market.
Not since the first half of 2012 has the Inland industrial market absorbed so much space during a six-month period, the report stated.
Also during the second quarter, industrial vacancy in Riverside and San Bernardino counties fell to 3.2 percent, only 60 basis points above its low point in late 2005.
A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Such a low vacancy rate is particularly impressive because more than 100 million square feet of industrial space was delivered to the Inland market during that 10-year period, according to the report, which was released earlier this month.
Rents were essentially unchanged during the second quarter, at 40 cents per square foot, according to Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.
The Inland region’s west side experienced most of the industrial activity during the second quarter. More than 70 percent of the occupancy gains happened there in both the last year and the second quarter, even though that sub-market only has about 63 percent of the region’s total inventory.
About 17.4 million square feet of industrial space is currently under construction in the two-county region, and industrial rents are expected to rise 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent during the next year, the report stated.
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank officials could not be reached for comment.
