Capital City Second-Quarter Industrial: Rents Up, Vacancy Down

AUSTIN (Colliers International) – Local industrial rents were up in the second quarter while vacancy was down, Colliers International reports in its latest market report.

The citywide average quoted rental rate increased by 1.6 percent between quarters from $8.21 to $8.34 per sf triple net and increased 18.5 percent year over year from $7.04 per sf triple net.

Meanwhile, vacancy dropped 140 basis points over the quarter from 10.2 percent to 8.8 percent. Vacancy had a small increase in the previous quarter.

Three buildings totaling 207,008 sf delivered in the second quarter, two of which are in Hays County, a growing submarket south of Austin.

Austin’s unemployment rate fell to 3.4 percent from 4.6 percent over the year, lower than both the state and national average. The city was the third fastest growing metro area in the nation during the past year with the population expanding by 3 percent between July 2013 and July 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hays County alone was the fifth fastest growing county in the nation over the past year.