Big Industrial Portfolio Buys Not on Horizon

An IndCor property in Jersey City that was part of one of 2015′s biggest portfolio buys.

CHICAGO—The US industrial sector attracted a vast amount of overseas capital in 2015, the most ever, but even though foreign investors still look very favorably on American industry, in 2016 they will probably buy far fewer assets. That’s the conclusion of researchers from JLL, who say the stupendous level of foreign investment the sector brought in during 2015 was most likely a unique occurrence.

Foreigners poured $25.9 billion into the US industrial sector in 2015 – a massive increase from the $2.1 billion figure from just a year earlier, and surpassing office for the first time ever, in terms of cross-border capital. Singapore-based investors led the way, followed by those in Norway and the United Arab Emirates. Including domestic investors, 2015 saw a total of $64.4 billion invested, and in 2014 the total was $46.9 billion.