The overall national industrial vacancy rate edged higher in the fourth quarter, climbing 20 basis points to 6.7 percent, according to the latest research by Cushman & Wakefield. This remains 30 basis points below the 10-year, pre-pandemic average.
“Industrial vacancy is likely nearing its peak for this cooling cycle in the coming quarters,” said Jason Price, senior director, Americas head of logistics & industrial research. “In quarter 4, we saw positive annual absorption in 60 percent of the 84 markets we track, and eight markets reported more than 5 million square feet of absorption for the year.”
Overall net absorption in the fourth quarter measured 36.8 million square feet, up from the 33.3 million square feet recorded in third quarter but down 20 percent on a year-over-year basis. Approximately 135 million square feet of industrial product was absorbed in 2024 by year-end as some markets struggled with occupier consolidations and rightsizing throu
