Over the 12 months ended March 31, single-tenant industrial sales volume totaled just $3.3B (billion), a 65% YOY (year over year) decrease. On a quarterly basis, single-tenant industrial sales were down just over 87% from the year ago quarter. While single-tenant industrial sales have been hit hard, multi-tenant industrial assets have fared no better by almost any measure. Single-tenant industrial property sellers are still adjusting expectations, and have been achieving 90.6% of their asking price.

On a per-square-foot basis, average pricing for single-tenant industrial was down 4%, in line with multi-tenant. As the recession batters industrial tenants, investors remain concerned about tenant failures—no matter whether they own single or multi-tenant property. Cap rates for both single and multi-tenant moved in the same direction with single tenant up around 108 bps to around 7.6%.

Private investors comprised the largest buyer group, acquiring 30% of single-tenant industrial property on a dollar volume basis but are now net sellers. Users remain net sellers as they dispose of property to raise cash for operations, with user sales outpacing purchases by nearly 2:1. REITs find themselves in a similar position as frozen capital markets force them to sell assets to service debt. Institutional and foreign players have been creeping into the market as net buyers, but for only the highest quality assets. In that vein, those assets continue to be sold at a premium, with the top 25% trading at over $150 PSF and caps around 6.9%.