Warehouse market will loosen by 2021 as supply catches up with demand, report finds

Supply and demand for industrial warehouse space will increase in lockstep through 2021 as North American square footage dedicated to warehousing increases, but vacancy rates hold at roughly 5%, predicted Cushman & Wakefield in a report released Friday. In 2019, industrial real estate supply caught up with booming demand created by the swift expansion of e-commerce, reversing a nine-year trend of undersupply. Cushman & Wakefield pegs North American vacancy at 4.6% for the whole of 2019. Last-mile and in-fill spaces and multi-story warehouses near population centers will be the most in-demand formats, according to the report, since demand for faster e-commerce order fulfillment necessitates staging inventory closer to consumers.