Industrial vacancy dips below 7% as demand outruns new supply

US industrial vacancy fell back below 7% in the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Q2 2026 US Industrial MarketBeat. For developers who paused big-box starts through the oversupply correction, the report is the clearest signal yet that demand has caught up with what got built.

Why it matters

Vacancy is the variable that decides whether a speculative start pencils. Falling vacancy against accelerating absorption is the combination that reopens the spec conversation, and the timing question for developers is whether to move now or wait for rent growth to follow vacancy down.

The honest counterweight sits in the same report. The under-construction pipeline is up 18% year over year, which means the supply that has been absorbed is being replaced faster than it is being delivered short. A tightening market that is simultaneously restocking its pipeline is a market with a shorter window than the vacancy line alone suggests. Rent growth of 2.9% is healthy, not overheated, and it is the number that will tell you whether the new pipeline finds tenants at underwritten rates.

The numbers

Cushman & Wakefield reports national industrial vacancy at 6.9%, down 10 basis points from the prior quarter. Net absorption reached 62.1 million sq ft in the second quarter and 113.6 million sq ft year to date, which the firm calls the strongest first half since 2023, with absorption accelerating 21% quarter over quarter.

New completions totaled 62 million sq ft in the quarter, slightly below absorption, which is what pushed vacancy down. The under-construction pipeline stands at 305 million sq ft, up 18% year over year. Asking rent growth is 2.9% year over year. The report carries a July 14, 2026 date, with the firm’s summary release following on July 17.

What’s next

Watch whether third-quarter completions rise to meet the larger pipeline, and whether rent growth accelerates past 3% before it does.

The market-level data matches what the largest landlord reported. Prologis logged record leasing in the same quarter, alongside $4 billion in data center starts, which is the other demand source now competing for the same industrial land. Full coverage on the national hub.