Chicago, IL Industrial Market Report Q3 2026
Absorption Rebounds to 5.05M SF and Rents Rise 4.4%
Demand
Chicago absorbed 5.05M SF in Q3 2026, against -370K SF in the same quarter last year. Vacancy is 5.4%, 36 bps tighter than Q3 2025. I-90/Northwest Suburbs is the tightest submarket at 3.2% vacancy; I-80\Joilet leads rent growth at +6.8%. Trailing-12-month absorption of 13.19M SF compares with -1.40M SF a year earlier. Asking rent of $10.29/SF is up 4.4% year over year and a record.
Supply
Chicago delivered 3.61M SF in Q3 and 11.33M SF over the trailing twelve months (-1% versus the prior TTM period). Space under construction equals 1.9% of inventory, concentrated in Northwest Indiana at 3.4% of its stock. Annual deliveries peaked at 33.40M SF in 2023. The 26.02M SF pipeline equals about eight quarters of absorption at the trailing pace.
Investment Market
Chicago recorded $7.5B in sales over the trailing twelve months, +66% against the prior TTM period; Q3 accounted for $3.04B. The high-water mark in this series is $9.1B in 2021. Q3 volume is 2.2 times the prior four-quarter average. Read volume as directional.
Chicago cap rates average 7.47%, up for 19 straight quarters. Pricing sits at $108/SF, higher for 16 consecutive years. The cap rate is 104 bps above the Q4 2021 low of 6.44%. Price per SF is at a record.
Volume
- $7.5B TTM volume (+66% YoY)
- Q3 2026: $3.04B
- Series peak $9.1B (2021)
Pricing
- Cap rate 7.47%
- Price per SF $108
- Caps expanding 19 quarters running
