Voit lists the industrial availability rate at 10.64% for the quarter, up 61% from the year-ago figure of 6.59% and an increase of just under 1% from the first quarter this year.

"This increase of supply could be explained by our slower economy coupled with an increase of new sublease space hitting the market and weak demand for buildings over 75,000 square feet," the Voit report says. It notes the average asking triple net lease rate in the second quarter was 56 cents, an 8.2% drop in since the second quarter of 2001 figure of $0.61.

The level of leasing activity rose in the quarter to 4.1 million sf, compared with 2.9 million sf in the first quarter. But the second quarter total declined by almost 1 million sf, or 19%, when compared to the second quarter of last year. Net absorption for the county was 498,497 sf for the second quarter, giving the county a total of 533,558 sf of negative absorption for the first two quarters of 2002.