Industrial fundamentals continued to rebalance in August, while renewed construction activity and record e-commerce penetration pointed to durable long-term logistics demand, the latest Yardi Matrix Industrial National Report shows.
Report highlights
- In-place rents averaged $9.31 per square foot, up 5.4 percent year over year
- National vacancy held at 9.3 percent, up 60 basis points annually
- Leases signed during the past 12 months averaged $10.19 per square foot
- 446.9 million square feet of industrial space was under construction, equal to 2.1 percent of stock
- Industrial sales totaled $60.5 billion through August at $138 per square foot
Leasing conditions remain uneven
Rent growth remained strongest in several Sun Belt and East Coast markets. Atlanta led major metros with a 7.9 percent annual increase, followed by New Jersey and Miami at 7.6 percent and Dallas at 7.5 percent. Higher-priced coastal markets included Orange County at $18.09 per square foot, Los Angeles at $15.97 and the Bay Area at $15.29.
The national spread between new and in-place leases continued to compress. Newly signed leases averaged $10.19 per square foot, just $0.88 above the $9.31 in-place average. Bridgeport retained the widest premium at $3.52, followed by Boston at $3.02 and Miami at $2.97.
Seattle moved in the opposite direction of the strongest rent-growth markets. Its vacancy rate reached 13.6 percent after rising 500 basis points in two years, reflecting the absorption challenge created by 44.2 million square feet delivered since the start of 2020.
Large projects reshape the pipeline
Industrial construction reached 446.9 million square feet nationally. Dallas led in absolute volume with 37.3 million square feet underway, followed by Phoenix with 31.1 million and Houston with 21.8 million. Phoenix had the largest pipeline relative to existing inventory at 6.8 percent of stock, with another 7.2 percent planned.
Large-format development is becoming increasingly important. Forty-nine projects exceeding 1 million square feet broke ground through August, and facilities of that scale accounted for more than 32 percent of all 2026 starts by square footage.
Demand is also receiving support from e-commerce, which reached a record 20.2 percent of core retail sales in the second quarter. Meanwhile, industrial transactions totaled $60.5 billion through August. Dallas recorded the most sales at $4.1 billion, while Los Angeles averaged $297 per square foot and Memphis averaged $75, illustrating the wide dispersion in pricing nationally.
Read the full Yardi Matrix Industrial Market Outlook: September 2026.
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