Moravian-Silesian Region is leader in construction of logistics halls and warehouses

The main credit for the rapidly increasing m2 of new logistics and warehousing facilities goes to the ever-growing e-commerce sector, which has been accelerated in the last two years by the coronavirus pandemic and the impossibility of shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. As a result, customers have moved online and made record volumes of purchases. Globally, the global retail market totalled $12.6 trillion in 2015, with online sales accounting for 8% of that total. In the following years, online sales grew significantly, so that by 2020 they already accounted for 18% of the $13.5 trillion total. This represents a 140% increase in just five years. This trend is also strongly evident in the Czech Republic, where e-commerce's share of total sales has grown from 8% to 17% in the last 5 years. 

Apart from demographic factors, the main reasons for the success of the e-commerce boom are easier access to the internet, internet banking and improved transport infrastructure. 

The Moravian-Silesian region was the leading region in terms of new production and warehouse space last year, followed by the Pilsen region and Prague. And this year a similar scenario is expected. At the end of the second quarter of 2021, almost 690,000 sqm of warehouse and production space was under construction, an increase of 21% compared to the previous quarter. Of the total amount of space under construction, 22% is located in the Pilsen region, 21% in Prague and its immediate surroundings and another 21% in the Moravian-Silesian region. The attractiveness of the Moravian-Silesian region is also evidenced by the fact that one of the largest transactions of this type will take place in Ostrava, where Sportisimo has pre-leased 70,000 sqm at Contera Park Ostrava D1, with another 25,000 sqm already reserved by AT Computers.

In the second quarter of 2021, the construction of halls with a total area of 226,700 sqm has started, of which 98,000 sqm is in the Moravian-Silesian Region. The share of industrial space under construction without a secure tenant, i.e. the share of speculative construction, fell by one percentage point to 24% during the second quarter. This is a year-on-year decrease of 17 percentage points. The vacancy rate is also currently at historic lows, having fallen again in the second quarter of this year to 3%, and even to 1.4% in Prague and the surrounding area. In contrast, the highest achieved prime headline rents for industrial and logistics properties in the Czech Republic rose slightly to EUR 5 per sqm/month in Q2 2021.

Source: CBRE, Inustrial Research Forum