- What The Toronto industrial market vacancy rate has risen
- Why A five-year trend of overbuilding has ended
- What next Economic issues will make 2025 a year of uncertainty
The Greater Toronto Area industrial vacancy rate rose at the end of 2024 to its highest point since 2015, Newmark said in a report to be released today.
Vacancy in the region rose to 3.1% near the end of the year, bucking the trend of sub-2% vacancy seen from mid-2017 to 2023. The increase comes against a softening industrial market following a decade of strong demand.
Absorption continued to decline, with the GTA seeing a negative absorption of 378,000 sq ft in 2024. Low absorption and economic unpredictability are shaping 2025 to be a year of uncertainty, Newmark said, with trade volatility from U.S.-imposed tariffs potentially triggering a decline in demand.
Meanwhile, estimated asking rents continued to drop from their peak in the middle of 2023, with only the York region seeing a rise in rents for 2024. Since the 2023 peak, asking rents have fallen 9.4%.
Across the region, industrial inventory hit 946m sq ft at the end of 2024, with an additional 11m sq ft under construction. Peel region is home to the majority of existing and under-construction industrial space.
Construction activity has trended downward since 2022, with the amount of under-construction space now stabilizing after a half-decade of “overbuilding,” Newmark said.
Against that backdrop, industrial sales were down 47% from 2023, hitting $5.6bn in 2024. Newmark said five deals broke the $100m bar.
Two sales surpassed the $125m mark: 8450 Boston Church Road in Milton, which rang in at $361m, and the $258m sale of 2021 Steels Avenue in Brampton.
