E-com a key driver of industrial real estate in near & long term in US

Walmart, in particular, has been opening numerous distribution centres across the country to catch up with Amazon’s massive head start in the online shopping space.

Following a period of stagnation, the US e-commerce sector resumed growth in the second quarter (Q2) this year, reaching $291.6 billion in sales—up by 6.7 per cent year on year (YoY), the Census Bureau reported.

The e-commerce boom experienced during the pandemic waned last year, leading to a softened demand for industrial space, the CommercialEdge report noted.

National industrial in-place rents averaged $8.11 per sq ft in August, down by four cents from July, but up by 7.2 per cent YoY.

The national industrial space vacancy rate stood at 6.7 per cent in August, up by 30 basis points (bps) month on month (MoM), whereas a total of 369.3 million sq ft of industrial space were under construction across the United States.

Industrial transactions totalled $36.9 billion in August, at an average sale price of $132 per sq ft.

Vacancy rates in the Bay Area and Orange County decreased by 40 basis points MoM following recent increases, while Dallas-Fort Worth led the country in sales volume, with $2.9 billion in transactions in August, overtaking the Bay Area for the first time in months.

New Jersey surpassed Boston in vacant industrial space for the first time in years with an 8.1 per cent vacancy rate, the fourth-highest nationwide.

The Census Bureau reported e-commerce sales of $291.6 billion in the second quarter, marking a 1.3 per cent increase over the first quarter and a 6.7 per cent YoY growth.

E-commerce’s share of core retail sales (excluding motor vehicles, their parts and gasoline) had stagnated during most of 2021 and 2022.

However, it has been on the upswing for six consecutive quarters, reaching 18.8 per cent in the second quarter, the highest level since the peak of pandemic-related shutdowns. 

The warehouse and storage sector of the labour market is also experiencing growth, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics.

A total of 24,900 jobs in the sector have been added year-to August. While these are modest gains for a sector employing nearly two million workers, they signal improvement in a sector that shrank by 8.5 per cent between May 2022 and December 2023, the CommercialEdge’s report added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)