Historically Low Vacancy Keeping Chicago Industrial Cap Rates Low
Cap rates in the Chicago market are faring better than other major national and Canadian markets, according to CBRE's new H1 2016 North American cap rate survey.
CBRE specifically cited the industrial sector, where cap rates for Class-A properties sit between 4.75% and 5.5%, below the average of 5.5%. Those rates are being spurred by historically low vacancy rates, demand outpacing supply and resilient pricing. Multifamily also performed well, as we noted when we recapped the top 10 multifamily sales of the first half of 2016. Cap rates in other sectors widened ever so slightly.
CBRE's Michael Caprile says the 3.75% vacancy rate for industrial assets is as low as he's seen and has led to the rise of what he calls "supercore" product—new Class-A product in infill markets such as I-55 and O’Hare. Cap rates in those submarkets sit in the sub-5s.
Michael sees this trend continuing as developers grow more conservative about spec construction and demand continues to outpace supply.
