The report shows a direct countywide vacancy of 7.7% for the quarter, an indication of continuity in supply and demand balance, and it shows that despite year-to-date direct negative absorption of 286,000 sf, gross leasing activity totals 4.2-million sf. This, along with there being only 940,839 sf of space under construction countywide, should prevent vacancy from spiking, the report states.

Direct asking rental rates are down just slightly for industrial multi-tenant space to $1.08 psf per month with concessions now standard in submarkets with larger quantities of available space, according to the report.

In 2009, Cushman & Wakefield anticipates fewer construction starts will occur as developers wait for demand to improve. Vacancy rates will rise slightly as inventory takes longer to absorb but will stay below 9% overall in the county.