CBRE analysis: North/Central Jersey rank in Top 5 with lowest vacancy rate for 2019 completions

In the U.S. last year, developers completed 289 million square feet of construction in the industrial and logistics real estate markets with only 39% of space available.

According to a report by CBRE, completions are a major factor for low vacancy rates in 2019, and at 22.2%, Central and North Jersey ranked in the Top 5 markets nationally with the lowest vacancy rate for 2019 completions.

In the Garden State, supply and demand has remained healthy due to high leasing activity, but deliveries outpaced absorption (255 million square feet).

“As New Jersey’s industrial market continues to break leasing and rental rate records, new developments are being snapped up by space users at a rapid pace,” Thomas Monahan, vice chairman, CBRE, said. “While the development pipeline remained robust with 28 buildings and 10.3 million sq. ft. currently under construction, the demand for high quality product is far outpacing supply.”

Another factor contributing to the strong absorption is the increase in new built-to-suit developments (28.1% of new construction activity).

Here are the Top 5 lowest vacancy markets for more than 4 million square feet of completions:

Market 2019 Completions Vacancy Rate
Kansas City 4.4 7.3%
Miami 5.0 12.4%
Baltimore 7.4 13.0%
Greenville 4.2 18.7%
New Jersey (Central/North) 6.3 22.2%