Foreign Investment in US Industrials Drops

CHICAGO—Foreign investors have been clamoring to get into the US industrial real estate sector for years, but in 2014 the level of investment dropped, according to a new report by Avison Young’s national industrial capital markets group. Investment from foreign buyers totaled $2.4 billion in 2014, down from a record level $3.1 billion in 2013, according to Real Capital Analytics. But experts say the torrid pace of 2013 could not have continued since investors eventually had fewer options for corporate distribution facilities and other industrial assets, particularly in core markets.

“Foreign investors have been on a buying spree in the US market for several years now, looking for opportunities to buy stable assets that can provide stronger yields than those found in their own or other foreign countries,” says Erik Foster, a principal with Avison Young and the practice leader for the company’s national industrial group. “The decrease in volume in 2014 is not a surprise, as we move toward a more stabilized investment volume that likely will be sustained for years to come.”