ST. LOUIS—Industrial users in the St. Louis area absorbed more than five million square feet in 2014, a record amount, and although it's improbable the region will hit those heights again in the near future, in 2015 vacancy rates continued to plunge below the historical average and developers have not had much trouble filling new spaces.

The regional industrial market recorded net occupancy gains of 626,000 square feet in the third quarter bringing the year-to-date total to 2.05 million square feet of positive absorption, according to a new report from Cushman & Wakefield. Throughout the year, bulk warehouses have led the way, and in the third quarter accounted for 446,000 square feet of the absorption. The overall vacancy rate dropped another 30 bps and now stands at just 6.0%, the lowest since 2008 and far below the historical average of 10.6%.

“In 2014, there was just so much pent-up demand,” Edwin C. Lampitt, an industrial specialist with C&W, tells GlobeSt.com. “There were multiple, multiple, 100,000-plus deals throughout last year. We're having a great year, but it won't match 2014.”