Houston industrial’s near-future bright, CRE firm says

​​HOUSTON – The area’s industrial real estate market has a strong near-term future, according to a first-quarter analysis released by commercial real estate service firm Lee & Associates this month.

Average industrial rental rates grew 4 percent since the start of last year. Lee & Associates predicted that they’ll continue to grow by as much as 5 percent in 2017.

The volume of industrial space under construction has plummeted to 4.6 million sf, down from 14.6 million at the start of 2016.

Vacancy has edged up slightly to 5.7 percent, which the company said, "despite the increase is still low relative to other major industrial markets around the country."