Industrial’s Numbers Speak for Themselves

In some hot markets, we’ve reached the unusual stage of net absorption slowing because there simply aren’t enough available properties,” says Adam Mullen at CBRE.

ATLANTA—In a commercial real estate variation on Yogi Berra’s famous quip, “that place is so crowded, nobody goes there anymore,” net absorption has begun to decelerate in some industrial corridors. Yet the reason is not lack of demand, but lack of product.

“The Industrial market, particularly in the US, is different from many other commercial real estate categories because the growth of e-commerce has triggered a permanent, structural change in demand for these properties,” says Adam Mullen, Atlanta-based senior managing director and Americas leader, industrial & logistics at CBRE. “In some hot markets, we’ve reached the unusual stage of net absorption slowing because there simply aren’t enough available properties to sustain it.”