Published 28 September 2026. Figures and market conditions described here were current at that time and may have changed since.
Australia's national industrial vacancy rate has fallen to 4.8 per cent, down from 5.0 per cent in the previous quarter.
According to the latest JLL Research Industrial Vacancy and Supply update, vacancy rates across most markets nationally trended downwards over the quarter, with Perth maintaining its position as the tightest market at just 2.2 per cent despite a slight quarterly increase.
Sydney recorded the highest vacancy rate nationally at 5.8 per cent across 23.5 million square metres of stock. The city saw mixed results at precinct level, with the Outer North West decreasing 1.9 percentage points to 3.3 per cent and South Sydney falling 0.5 percentage points to 8.6 per cent. However, these gains were offset by increases in the Outer South West and Inner West precincts.
Melbourne, Australia's largest industrial market with 30.6 million square metres of stock, recorded a vacancy rate of 4.9 per cent. The City Fringe precinct saw the largest quarterly decrease, dropping 3.2 percentage points to 3.4 per cent in Q2 2026. Vacancy also decreased in the North and South East precincts, while the West precinct remained broadly stable at 5.4 per cent.
Brisbane delivered the largest decrease in quarterly vacancy nationally. The vacancy rate decreased in both the Southern precinct, falling 1.4 percentage points to 4.2 per cent, and the Trade Coast precinct, dropping 1.0 percentage points to 4.1 per cent. The city's overall vacancy rate now sits at 4.5 per cent across 14.0 million square metres.
Adelaide's vacancy rate decreased 0.7 percentage points to 3.8 per cent across 5.7 million square metres, with most precincts recording improvements during the quarter.
JLL Research tracks over 81.5 million square metres of industrial stock nationally. As at Q2 2026, a total of 2.1 million square metres of industrial warehouse is currently under construction nationally, to be delivered largely over the next 18 months.
The research indicates that occupier demand continues to exceed expectations, with elevated leasing deal flows in 2026 continuing to incrementally absorb speculative warehouse space introduced to market over the past two years.
However, challenges loom on the horizon. The ongoing US-led global conflict in Iran and the resultant inflationary pressures on fuel domestically could negatively impact logistics business profitability over the short term as current petrol contract pricing ends and new contracts are negotiated.
Despite these concerns, occupiers are expected to continue looking to improve business efficiencies through accommodation and will opportunistically look to upgrade facilities. As a result, the higher vacancy risk is expected in secondary grade space.
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