By Brett Saladin, CCIM | Commercial Agent, Goldmark Commercial Real Estate
If you’ve been watching the industrial market over the past year, you probably noticed it felt a little off. Leasing slowed down, inventory started creeping up, and there was a lot of uncertainty about where things were headed.
Q1 2026 changed that in a big way.
We just saw one of the strongest quarters for industrial leasing that I can remember. Over 432,000 square feet was leased in just three months, which actually surpassed the total leasing volume for all of 2025 . That kind of activity doesn’t happen by accident.
So what’s going on?
Big Users Are Driving the Market
A big part of this surge came from large deals. We saw multiple leases over 100,000 square feet and another over 50,000. When those types of users move, they move the market with them.
But it wasn’t just large tenants. We also saw strong overall activity with 17 total leases, which tells me this isn’t isolated to one or two outliers. There is real demand across different user sizes.
Inventory Tightened Fast
At the same time leasing picked up, available industrial inventory dropped by nearly 30 percent in a single quarter .
That is a significant shift in a short period of time.
For Clients looking for space, that means fewer options than there were just a few months ago. For owners, it creates a much stronger position than we saw throughout most of last year.
Is This Sustainable?
That is the big question we’ve been getting.
The honest answer is that it will be hard to repeat a quarter like this. When you have several large deals land at once, it can create a spike that is difficult to match.
That said, we are still seeing active requirements in the market, including larger users evaluating options. I do expect additional deals to materialize in the coming months, even if the pace normalizes a bit.
What This Means for Clients
If you are an industrial user, this is a market that can move quickly. Waiting for more options or better pricing may not work in your favor if inventory continues to tighten.
If you are an owner or investor, this is a reminder of how quickly momentum can shift. Strong demand paired with limited inventory can create real opportunities.
From where I sit, this quarter was not just a one-off event. It is a signal that the industrial sector in our market still has a lot of strength behind it.
Understanding trends like this is exactly why we produce our Quarterly Connect report. At Goldmark Commercial, we pride ourselves on delivering clear, data-driven insights so our Clients can navigate changing market conditions with confidence. To stay up to date on what’s happening across the FM market, you can sign up to receive our Quarterly Connect report.
Link to: https://goldmarkcommercial.com/#connect