Logistics leasing records 31% growth YoY: CBRE

Real estate consulting firm CBRE South Asia, in its report 'India Industrial and Logistics Market View, H1 2019' said that the logistics leasing in the country recorded a growth of 31 per cent on a yearly basis, crossing 13 million sft. Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore accounted for more than 60 per cent of leasing activity.

Speaking on the report, Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO - India, South East Asia, Middle East & Africa said, "While the overall pipeline for the sector is expected to be around 60 million sq. ft. till 2020, at least 22 million sq. ft. of this supply is anticipated to be released by leading players.

We also expect logistics leasing activity to strengthen owing to consolidation / expansion by occupiers. In addition, as per our APAC Investor Intention Survey, 2019, India was among the top five investment destinations in APAC.

Industrial & logistics was also one of the top segments expected to be targeted by investors in 2019."

Similar to H2 2018, logistics space take-up was dominated by small-sized transactions (less than 50,000 sq. ft.), accounting for about 38 per cent of the leasing activity in H1 2019.

The share of medium-sized transactions (ranging between 50,000 sft and 100,000 sft) rose from 26 per cent in H2 2018 to 32 per cent in H1 2019. Large-sized deals (greater than 100,000 sft) accounted for 30 per cent of the leasing activity during H1 2019.

Jasmine Singh, Executive Director, Advisory & Transaction Services, CBRE India, said, "It is quite interesting to note that the key demand drivers of leasing activity in H1 2019 were 3PL (56 per cent) and engineering & manufacturing (6 per cent) firms."