The total of industrial sales and leasing declined to 16.25 million sf during 2002, compared with 18.72 million sf in 2001, according to the Voit report, which showed that activity was down even further from 2000, when the amount of sold and leased space totaled 23.38 million sf.

Despite the declines, the Voit report cited some upbeat signs, like a Chapman University estimate that Orange County added 4,000 new jobs in 2002 and is expected to add 23,000 more this year as the county economy is expected to continue its recovery.

The availability rate for industrial space stood at 9.44% at the end of the quarter, an increase of 11.58% when compared to the fourth quarter of 2001. Jerry Holdner, a vice president and chief of research at Voit, says the increase could reflect the slower economy coupled with an increase of new sublease space hitting the market. The same factors would also explain the flat average asking triple net lease rate of .56 cents per sf foot per month, Holdner says.

The survey shows that industrial space under construction totaled slightly more than 1 million sf in the fourth quarter, 68% less than the amount of space that was under construction a year ago. The total of sales and leasing activity, 3.789 million sf, compared with 5.358 million sf in the third quarter and was 4% less than the activity in the fourth quarter of 2001. While net absorption for the county measured a positive 145,784 sf for the fourth quarter, the county ended the year with just less than half a million sf of negative absorption in the industrial market.