South Florida’s condo market has slowed down and the housing market is not what it once was, but the industrial sector is as hot as ever.
Investment in South Florida’s industrial real estate market rose 77 percent to $1 billion in the third quarter of 2019 on a yearly basis. The market is booming right now due to an influx of institutional buyers acquiring new properties and land, according to an analysis of Real Capital Analytics data by Avison Young.
Institutional investors are zeroing in on industrial properties as the demand for e-commerce continues to take off.
In the past two years, the Blackstone Group spent the most, buying 36 properties in South Florida for $417.4 million. Duke Realty was second, having purchased four properties for $250.1 million. And DWS Group Americas, an investment manager, closed on five properties for $198.2 million, according to Avison Young.
On a per-foot basis, industrial prices in South Florida rose 14.8 percent in the third quarter of this year to roughly $160 per square foot, compared to $140 per square foot during the same period in 2018. Over the past year, 249 properties sold totaling 21.6 million square feet.
In the third quarter, BentallGreenOak and Bridge Development Partners recorded the largest industrial sale in Miami-Dade County by acquiring a mixed-use business park next to the Opa-locka Executive Airport for $126 million.
In South Florida, institutional investors made up 31.9 percent of the buyers and 17.7 percent of the sellers in 2019, while foreign investors accounted for 22.9 percent of the buyers and 22.4 percent of the sellers.