Industrial Market Summary
Current multi-tenant industrial vacancy for the Oklahoma City metro area now stands at 16.96%, down from 20.31% in mid-year 2018. These swings seem to be the new normal – multi-year strong absorption and rent growth periods followed by multi-year double-digit vacancy and relative quiescence (a kinder term to use around your developer friends than “stagnation”), culminating in eight to ten-year cycles overall. The current cycle may be an under-built market leading into a slightly over-built market waiting for industrial real estate supply and demand to balance. Some hoped-for market events have not materialized such as a rush of suppliers into the market to support the Amazon fulfillment center. The influx of national distribution companies has slowed but not stopped, as has construction of new bulk warehouse facilities capable of multi-tenant configuration.