Reading Metro Vancouver's Industrial Vacancy and Absorption Numbers
Regional vacancy at 4.3% is the headline. The useful number is the one for your submarket and your building type, and those vary far more than the average suggests.
June 25, 2026 · 2 min read · By Samuel Brahem, in association with NAI Commercial
The regional picture
Across the six Q2 2026 brokerage reports, vacancy averaged about 4.3%, with individual reports from 3.1% to 5.0%, and availability 5.8%. That is well above the sub-1% of 2021 and 2022 and still a balanced market.
Net absorption was negative in several quarters of 2023 and early 2024. It is now positive in every report: about 367,000 sq. ft. in Q2 2026 and roughly 1.05 million sq. ft. year to date. Deals over 100,000 sq. ft. are rarer; activity from 10,000 to 50,000 sq. ft. has held steady.
Submarket by submarket
- Vancouver: vacancy about 5.4%, net rent about $20.10 per sq. ft.
- Burnaby: 4.9%, about $19.67
- Richmond: 3.4%, about $20.26, the highest major-submarket rent; concessions more common
- Surrey (Campbell Heights, Port Kells): 3.8% vacancy, 5.0% availability, about $18.66; landlords still offering free rent and TI
- Langley: 5.3% vacancy, 7.5% availability, about $19.20; Abbotsford 4.6% and 6.3%, about $17.09
- Port Coquitlam: about 2.2%, among the lowest in the region, near $20.17
The regional average is $19.10 net. Nobody actually leases at the regional average.
Who is taking space
3PLs rightsizing after pandemic expansion, food and beverage distributors needing cold space near population, building materials suppliers, manufacturers chasing power and clear height, and last-mile operators at a steadier pace. Demand is operational now, not speculative.
Supply is the swing factor
About 3.0 million sq. ft. is under construction, roughly half pre-committed, against 11.4 million sq. ft. at the 2023 peak. Starts fell through 2023 and 2024 and most of what remains is build-to-suit. That discipline should rebalance the market over 12 to 24 months, and tenants needing space on short notice will feel the squeeze first when it does.
What to do
- Owners: price to market and expect to offer concessions; older, functionally obsolete buildings need capital or repositioning
- Tenants: leverage has improved, options exist in most size bands and suburban landlords are motivated; quality product in prime spots still moves fast
- Investors: cap rates have expanded; assets with strong covenants and term trade tight, while vacant or near-rollover buildings can be bought below replacement cost in growth submarkets
