Industrial vacancy rate increases after six quarters of decline

The national availability rate for industrial space increased from 7.6 percent during the fourth quarter of 2000 to 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2001. The January through March 2001 industrial vacancy rate was 0.2 percent higher than during the first quarter 2000. This CB Richard Ellis survey measures the supply of available space in manufacturing plants and warehouses of 100,000 square feet or larger. Vacancy rates for industrial space during the first quarter of 2001 ranged from lows of about 4 percent in Portland and Kansas City to 1.8 percent in Albuquerque.