The first quarter saw 31,327 sqm of take-up, a 29.4 percent increase q-o-q, but the lowest first quarter figure registered in the last three years. Of this, 44 percent came from new leases and expansions, while renegotiations made up 21 percent of the total, less than half the figure recorded in the Q4 2012. The largest transaction in the first quarter was a prelease which accounted for 35 percent of the total leasing activity.

Twenty industrial transactions were concluded in Q1 2013, with only one of them exceeding 5,000 sqm and the average size just 1,517 sqm. Demand for logistics parks amounted to 21,713 sqm, or 69 percent of the total leasing activity, while 9,714 sqm of the space signed for was located in city logistics facilities, or 31 percent of all take-up.

Despite the lack of new supply, vacancy rose 230 basis points in comparison with last quarter’s figure to 21.7 percent, as tenants abandoned space rather than renewing leases. Out of town logistics parks proved more vulnerable to this than city logistics facilities.

BRF