U.S. Industrial Leasing Plunges In Q1 As 'Recalibration' Continues Industrial users in the U.S. slammed the brakes on leasing in the first quarter, deepening a slowdown that is likely to continue for the remainder of the year. Net absorption reached 28M SF nationwide in Q1, a roughly 70% drop from a year earlier, driving the vacancy rate up to 6.7% from 4.5% last year. But industrial brokers aren’t worried. In fact, they realize their position could be viewed as enviable. “A breather, a recalibration period, a soft landing — any or all of the above terms are appropriate,” Newmark National Industrial Research Managing Director Lisa DeNight said. “In the first quarter, we had around 28M SF of net absorption across the country. The office market would love to see that.” 
For industrial, which spent several years on a meteoric rise, a decline that would devastate some other segments of CRE is more of a return to a manageable pace, although there is a hefty pipeline of new development that needs to be leased.“The market is still generally healthy, but the… Read the full story here. | 
