The diverse manufacturing, logistics and transportation, as well as automotive sectors and the sustained growth of e-commerce have accelerated the industrial real estate market in Monterrey, Nuevo León, which closed the fourth quarter of 2024 (4Q24) with a gross absorption or marketed spaces of 340 thousand square meters (m2 ) , which brought the annual accumulation to 1.5 million m2 , reported the real estate services and investment company CBRE .
According to its MarketView report on the industrial real estate sector in Monterrey, at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, 50% of that activity was built-to-suit projects and Apodaca remained the most important submarket, with more than 657 thousand m2 absorbed , 43% of the total demand. Escobedo and Guadalupe followed, with 15% and 13% , respectively.
“The year 2024 closes with the diverse manufacturing industrial sector as the main driver of annual demand in Monterrey, with 38% of total market activity. The logistics and transportation sector continues its expansion in the city, consolidating itself as the second most active in the year, with more than 374 thousand m2 sold , representing 26% of total demand,” explained Ramón Flores, executive vice president of the northeast region of CBRE Mexico.
These sectors were followed by the automotive sector , which remained in third place with an additional 15% . In addition, e-commerce showed exponential growth in 2024 and with only three transactions, it represented 12% of annual gross absorption.
The industrial market in Monterrey ended 2024 with accelerated growth in its inventory, exceeding 16 million m2 , after incorporating more than 1.7 million m2 during the past year, which meant the second highest annual increase, only behind 2023, when it was 1.8 million m2 , CBRE announced in a statement.
Meanwhile, construction activity remains at historic highs, above 1.1 million m2 , and is concentrated mainly in the submarkets of Apodaca, Ciénega de Flores and Guadalupe.
“This accelerated growth in inventory and a slower pace of built-to-suit or pre-leasing projects have allowed for rapid growth in supply in the city, which together with new vacancies added more than 244 thousand m2 of vacant space to the market in recent months,” the firm explained.
During 4Q24, more than 160 thousand m2 of vacant space were delivered in the different submarkets of the city, which, together with a new series of vacancies, drove the growth of the vacancy rate, which closed the year at 4% , with more than 639 thousand m2 existing and being marketed.
The United States is the main place of origin of these investments, with more than 645 thousand m2 ( 44%). It is followed by Mexico (16%) and Germany with 9 percent.
In addition to the industries mentioned above, another factor that has driven the growth in the absorption of industrial spaces is the relocation of production lines in Mexico, a phenomenon known as nearshoring , which represents a development opportunity for our country and this market, as the demand for warehouses by foreign companies increases.
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