IRVINE, CA—Vacancies for US industrial are at their lowest levels in nearly 20 years thanks largely to technology-driven demand, Ten-X said Wednesday. E-commerce's positive influence on space absorption has already been well documented; less widely noted is the growing demand for cloud-server farms.

Conversely, low oil prices mean that the energy sector is no longer the spur to industrial leasing that it was in former years. And while trans-Pacific commerce is giving a leg up to Southern California in particular, Ten-X sees cause for concern in the current administration's evident hostility toward trade. Moreover, the global economy has been “stuck in a rut,” as the firm puts it.

“Technology is steadily deepening its impact on the American economy, and it's doing so in a way that benefits industrial real estate in a meaningful way,” says Peter Muoio, chief economist with Ten-X. “In fact, our forecast indicates that technology's positive impacts on this asset class, at least for now, are proving strong enough to offset damage caused by weak oil prices and an uninspired global economy. While the industrial sector still seems to be in good health, one of the biggest question marks facing it arises from potential shifts in US public policy that could one day come to suppress trade flow.”