5 Markets That are Good for Industrial Investors

Northern New Jersey is the top city to watch for industrial investment this year, according to a new survey from Crexi.

The region is home to more than 293 million square feet of industrial space, and tenants have been on a leasing spree with 10.2 million square feet of industrial space committed over the past year, per Cushman & Wakefield data. Industrial vacancy now sits a-low 2.5%, and even the 3.9 million sf of space under construction is likely not enough to blunt demand. Per Crexi data, in the last year, the median sold price per square foot for industrial property in New Jersey rose from $132 to $151.

Miami clocks in a #2 on Crexi’s survey with median closed prices per square foot ticking up from $175 in 2021 to $218 year-to-date. Vacancy sits at 1.8%, with leases signed for over 2.5 million square feet of space to date this year while overall average asking rents remain “relatively low” at $11.79 per square foot.

Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx are the third best places to invest in industrial property, according to Crexi, whose analysts note the outer boroughs have become increasingly popular for industrial uses, given their proximity to New York City’s  population centers and available land and transportation infrastructure.

“The area’s growing e-commerce and distribution industries have further fueled demand for industrial space,” the Crexi report notes, and steady employment and population growth helps as well.  Asking prices in 2022 jumped nearly 32% year-over-year for NYC industrial space, according to Crexi data.

Nashville and the Inland Empire round out the top five at #4 and #5, respectively.

Industrial was the only sector tracked by MCSI to show an uptick in month over month pricing in December, with the index up 0.5% and annual growth, although having slowed, at a 12.2% rate.