Los Angeles industrial real estate outperforms nation

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Industrial property landlords are suffering in most of the country – but not so much in Los Angeles, a real estate brokerage said Tuesday.

Vacancy in the U.S. increased for a 10th consecutive quarter to 10.9% in the first three months of this year, Grubb & Ellis said. Asking rents were down almost 7% from a year ago. With the economy finally starting to improve a bit, the pace of deterioration in the industrial real estate market is easing, ‘but not quickly,’ said the brokerage in a report.

In Los Angeles, vacancy rose a smidgen from a year ago to a mere 3.4% in the first quarter, though that was a six-year high. Asking rents have been coming down for the most part since 2008.

‘The Los Angeles industrial market remains the tightest in the nation,’ the company said in statement about its Los Angeles report. Vacancy in the region will inch higher as unemployment remains high and retail sales lag, Grubb & Ellis said, but the market should tilt again toward landlords by the end of the year as the economy stabilizes.

-- Roger Vincent