The first quarter of 2021 marks the one year anniversary of when COVID began impacting the local economy. There were many unknowns facing the region back then, both economically and from the real estate market perspective.

In Kidder Mathews’ latest industrial report, the firm take a trip down memory lane to review the year that was. From the economic side, there was an initial regional job loss totaling nearly 241,000 between March and April 2020.

Since the end of April through January 2021, the region gained back nearly 83,000 jobs. Employment sectors impacting the industrial market include manufacturing, construction, wholesale trade, and transportation and warehousing.

From the real estate side, there is nearly 10 million square feet currently under construction. The region’s total supply is at 350 million square feet. Nearly 3 million square feet has been absorbed during the past four quarters. Vacancy has risen from 4.6 percent (Q1 2020) to 5.4 percent (Q1 2021). Region-wide, rents are up nearly 5 percent during the past 12 months.

Sales volume in the first quarter 2021 totaled 63 transactions and $300 million in dollar volume. Dollar volume is on a similar pace as 2019, says the report.