MIAMI—It's a good time to be in the industrial market. The US industrial vacancy rate dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade during the third quarter of 2014, according to Cushman & Wakefield's latest report. Coupled with historically low supply, significant space absorption is driving strong rent growth in most major industrial hubs.

“Continued economic recovery, the evolution of e-commerce and a resurgence in domestic manufacturing have infused resiliency into the market for industrial space,” says CushWake's John Morris, leader of industrial services for the Americas. “Our sector continues to expand faster than other property classes, fueled by shifting consumer demand and retail service paradigms, and global growth dynamics.”

During the third quarter, the overall national industrial vacancy rate dropped to 7%. That's 80 basis points lower than one year ago. Three of the 38 markets tracked CushWake tracks recorded vacancy rates under 4%, including California's San Francisco Peninsula (3.5%), Greater Los Angeles (3.8%) and Orange County (3.8%).