THE BAJIO MARKET SHOWS POSITIVE NUMBERS AFTER COVID-19

One of the real estate markets with more activity at the end of the third quarter of 2020 is the industrial sector of the Bajío (roughly translated as the Shallows) by reporting an increase of 28% (268,000 m²) in net absorption compared to the same period in 2019. Additionally, in a year defined by the uncertainty of a pandemic in all the economic activities of Mexico, the Bajío industrial real estate registered a brute absorption of 300,000 m², a growth of 13%.

The Reporte Industrial del Bajío y Zona Metropolitana de Guadalajara (translated as the Industrial Report of the Bajío and Guadalajara Metropolitan Area), published by CBRE, tells that the industrial sector reactivation keeps moving forward in the region because of new investments and recent expansions, particularly in Guanajuato and Querétaro. It’s also expected that the USMAC brings a trust impulse to the Mexican Bajío.

The Bajío accumulates over 400,000 m² in construction projects. Guanajuato is the Mexican state with more developments in progress by hoarding 48% of the total, followed by San Luis Potosí (27%) and Querétaro (20%). The total inventory of the zone had an annual increase of 3% compared to the third quarter of 2019 whereas its vacancy rate closed in 6.2%, a sustained low tendency over the last nine months.

Guadalajara has broken a record in the building of industrial spaces reporting a total of new 375,000 m², translated into an 86% surge compared to the same period in 2019. It’s important to mention that Jalisco is one of the states with the largest catchment of direct foreign investment, only behind Mexico City and Nuevo León.

The building industry reactivation soothed the incorporation of new spaces to the inventory, closing the third quarter of 2020 in 3.4 million m², 8.8% more than last year. However, the vacancy rate closed on 5.1%, a total of 172,000 m², an increase of almost 1% in comparison to 2019.

Finally, the report also mentions that 95% of the operations in the industrial sector at the close of the quarter belong to logistics, transportation, distribution, and storage, increasing the offer in the submarkets of El Salto and Periférico Sur.

The Mexican Bajío is a high industrial activity zone linked to cities such as Mexico City, Toluca, Querétaro, Puebla, Guanajuato, Guadalajara, Zapopan, Zacatecas, Durango, Gómez Palacio, Torreón, Saltillo, Monterrey, Chihuahua, Tampico, Tijuana, Mexicali, Hermosillo, Obregón, Los Mochis, Culiacán, Mazatlán y Tepic.

Keywords: real estate development Bajío, industrial sector Bajío, real estate development Guadalajara, Bajío, Guadalajara.