north america
the north american industrial market experienced growth despite the covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc across the globe, as well as more local disruptions including hurricanes and wildfires. it has proven once again to be one of the most resilient asset types. although north american new supply outpaced demand for the second year in a row, with 378 million square feet (msf) of completions, demand came in at 287 msf, surpassing 200 msf for the seventh consecutive year.
“covid-19-induced lockdowns did cause a slight slowdown in demand in the first half of the year compared to prior years. however, even this combined with the large volume of supply has still not been enough to fully satiate tenant demand and to allow vacancy rates to begin to rise significantly,”
said tolliver. “toward the end of 2020, north american industrial vacancy stood at 4.9%—just a 30 bps increase over 2019 and canadian markets registered the lowest vacancy rates at 2.5% and mexico city following at 3.0%.”
emea
“europe’s logistics sector is grappling with supply constraints, stemming from a combination of a lack of developable land and strict planning regimes. in contrast to pre-global financial crisis (gfc) when speculative development represented roughly 80% of new construction, post-gfc has been characterized by predominantly built-to-suit development that has led to severe supply shortages in most of europe’s core logistics markets. as speculative construction resumed post-lockdowns more product came to market, pent up demand was released and leasing activity accelerated,”
said lisa graham, head of emea industrial research for cushman & wakefield.
based on year-end data, vacancy continues to trend downward in most of europe’s key logistics hubs. vacancy of approximately 4% in dutch and uk markets and vacancy hovering around 2% in rotterdam, lyon, prague and budapest, points to a severe lack of stock that, so far, a rise in speculative construction has been unable to alleviate. furthermore, increased demand from e-retailers and 3pls, as they expand their logistics footprint, has offset any vacancies created through tenant bankruptcies during 2020.
“the global logistics sector not only showed resilience during the strict first half lockdowns, but went on to benefit from consumer and business reactions to the pandemic during second half. broadening e-commerce, both geographically and by product range, will be a key driver of new space demand over the next decade,”
added dr. brown. “in a post-covid-19 world, there will be greater focus on using real estate to leverage cost across the whole supply chain, better positioning businesses as they navigate a b2c business model, reshoring, inventory management, labor issues, transportation and esg. together, these factors will govern location strategy.”
- end –
about cushman & wakefield
cushman & wakefield (nyse: cwk) is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value for real estate occupiers and owners. cushman & wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with approximately 50,000 employees in over 400 offices and 60 countries. across greater china, 22 offices are servicing the local market. the company won four of the top awards in the euromoney survey 2017, 2018 and 2020 in the categories of overall, agency letting/sales, valuation and research in china. in 2020, the firm had revenue of $7.8 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services. to learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @cushwake on twitter.
for further information, please contact:
mandy qian
director, marketing & communications
tel: 86 10 8519 8040
mandy.qian@cushwake.com
