Vacancy reaches a cycle high as occupier demand turns negative
Seattle/Puget Sound’s industrial market softened further in Q2, with vacancy climbing to 12.6%, up 300 basis points year over year and the highest level in five years. Net absorption turned negative for a second straight quarter, pushing year-to-date net absorption to negative 1.7 million square feet (msf) compared with positive 1.3 msf over the same period last year. Developers pulled back sharply on new construction as vacancy climbed, even as speculative deliveries already underway continued to add unleased space to the market.