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hiladelphia's industrial real estate market is one of the strongest in the country, according to a new ranking. The city ranked fourth among 30 major markets, with over 4 million square feet of new industrial space added in the first quarter of 2025. This makes Philadelphia the top industrial market on the East Coast.
The ranking considered metrics such as vacant industrial space, average sale and rent prices per square foot, online search interest, and new construction. Philadelphia's high ranking was driven by its growing inventory of industrial real estate, increasing average sale price, and rising search interest.
In the first quarter of 2025, Philadelphia added nearly 1% more industrial space, with over 4.1 million square feet created. The city also had around 8.8 million square feet of industrial space under construction at the end of the quarter. While this is a significant amount, it's lower than other top markets like Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix.
The Philadelphia area has seen a surge in warehouse development over the past few years, with over 55 million square feet built or planned between 2020 and mid-2024. However, the vacancy rate has increased slightly to 7.9% in the first quarter of 2025, compared to around 5-10% in other top markets.
The average sale price of a square foot of industrial real estate in Philadelphia rose from $116 to $129 over the past year, with 16 of the 30 analyzed areas seeing an increase in average price per square foot. The most expensive market for industrial space is Orange County, at $302 per square foot, while Memphis and St. Louis have some of the lowest prices, around $60 per square foot.
