LOS ANGELES—Industrial's momentum kept the sector barreling through 2016, and Colliers International doesn't see the market losing step as it moves through 2017. The firm's newly issued fourth-quarter report says the driving factors behind last year's outperformance of every key indicator continue to support robust fundamentals in core industrial markets in the current year.

While e-commerce “has made industrial the darling of commercial real estate,” writes the firm's James Breeze, national director of industrial research, the sector likely would have performed well even without the turbo boost from e-commerce. Consumer spending was solid in 16, with retail sales completing the seventh consecutive year of growth, he writes. “Furthermore, nearly all major ports posted year-over-year gains in loaded inbound container volume—the most important seaport driver for warehouse demand.”

Nor will the benefits be limited to the major logistics hubs. “These key drivers
will also expand demand in secondary markets near inland ports
and large population centers and lead to a resurgence in demand for both manufacturing space and ex space in markets throughout the country,” Breeze writes in the Colliers report. 'Retailers, wholesalers and third-party logistics companies are all scrambling to find space near these locations to gain competitive advantage and get products to consumers faster.”