Industrial real estate sees poor third quarter

Several indicators showed a weakened industrial real estate sector in the third quarter of 2009, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report released today. The country’s industrial vacancy rate reached 10.3 percent at the end of the third quarter, its highest in 15 years and a 2.2 percent rise over 2008, while industrial space under construction fell to 15.2 million square feet, its lowest quarterly total since 1995. The drought in new construction activity may eventually work to lessen the pace of soaring vacancy rates, though, the report predicts. Overall leasing activity in the industrial sector also fell to 169.5 million square feet so far this year, an 18.8 percent decline from this time in 2008. Long Island, Palm Beach, Fla., and Tampa, Fla., were among the few markets that saw an increase in leasing transactions. User sales and investment sales saw year-over-year drops of 36.4 percent and 65 percent, respectively. TRD