Big Box investment share highest on record

Nearly £3.9bn was transacted across industrial and big box logistics units in the first half of 2017 – an 18% increase year on year. According to BNP Paribas Real Estate’s latest “Industrial and Big Box Review”, the logistics sector accounted for £2.7bn, more than double the volume recorded in H1 2016 and second only to the record breaking £3.8bn recorded over the second half of 2014. At 68%, the logistics sector recorded its highest ever share of industrial investment. The report states that this was driven by the increasing amount of capital which has been deployed into the logistics sector by investors, with the investment levels achieved during this period seconded only to the record breaking £3.8bn witnessed over the second half of 2014. Take-up during the period was 11.5m sq ft, which is an increase of 3.2% on the long-term average. While this was a drop of 6% relative to the same period last year, the report states these figures need to be put into context given the unprecedented activity which was witnessed over the 2015-16 period. The Midlands continues to account for the largest share of national take-up, and this has been no different over 2017 to date, with the percentage share increasing to 43.1% compared with the 36.7% recorded in 2016. In addition, standard industrial and distribution warehouses continue to out-perform MSCI’s index, with 3.9% and 3.3% annual rent growth, and 8.8% and 7% annual capital growth, respectively. To send feedback, e-mail amber.rolt@egi.co.uk or tweet @AmberRoltEG or @estatesgazette