Overall Activity Remains Light as Rents Continue to Climb
The South Bay industrial market continues to see healthy demand despite leasing activity posting below historical averages. The overall availability rate slightly decreased by 10 basis points to 2.5%. Vacancy was flat in the fourth quarter, remaining at a healthy 0.9% but up 50 basis points from this time last year. With the region’s extremely tight market conditions, asking rents have doubled in just two years, as competition for warehouse space is still thriving. The Ports of L.A. and Long Beach also continue to see light container volumes due to retailers pulling back orders, as economic uncertainty persists. Loaded inbound container trade in 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) is down 2.5% YTD in Long Beach and down 7.2% YTD in Los Angeles.
