The German industrial and logistics real estate market achieved take-up of around three million square metres in the first half of 2026. This corresponds to an increase of eleven percent compared to the previous year and shows market activity that is developing positively despite a continuing challenging economic environment. At the same time, the decline in the vacancy rate in the big-box segment continued, while prime rents continued to rise, especially in high-demand logistics regions. This is the result of an analysis by the global real estate service provider CBRE.
“The market is becoming increasingly resilient. While the overall economic momentum continues to be subdued, demand for space remains at a solid level. The market was able to grow not only compared to the first half of 2025, but also compared to the first quarter of 2026. It is particularly remarkable that available space is being absorbed faster than it was a year ago,” says Sarina Schekahn, Head of Industrial & Logistics Leasing Germany at CBRE.
A key driver of this development is the renewed increase in letting performance and the simultaneous decline in speculative project developments. In addition, new construction space is increasingly being rented out again during the construction phase. The marketing times of existing areas are also shortened. Both developments point to improved market absorption capacity and an overall more balanced supply-demand situation.
Overall, the big-box vacancy** fell by 0.1 percentage points to 4.6 percent compared to the end of the first half of 2025. The peak of vacancy was reached at the end of 2025 at five percent. Since then, vacancies have been declining, especially in established logistics regions. There, the structural shortage of space is coming back into focus. At the same time, regions outside the classic conurbations are becoming increasingly important again, as users are forced to switch to alternative locations.
E-commerce is gaining momentum again
After demand from international online retailers had already increased noticeably in 2025, this trend continued in the first half of 2026. Companies from China and the USA in particular are increasingly emerging as demand for space again, but are pursuing different strategies.
While US companies are mainly looking for large-scale distribution centers in established logistics regions as well as eastern Germany, Chinese companies are concentrating more on small to medium-sized spaces and are increasingly expanding their search for locations beyond North Rhine-Westphalia to other regions of Germany. Due to the limited availability of space in western German conurbations, eastern German locations are also beginning to come into focus.
Competition for space is increasing
“The demand for suitable logistics space is now growing from several directions. In addition to traditional industrial and logistics users, data centers and companies from the defense environment are increasingly competing for suitable land,” says Dr. Jan Linsin, Head of Research Germany at CBRE.
While the defense industry has so far been active in the market mainly through owner-occupancy, it is increasingly influencing the availability of land. As a result, municipal development areas in particular are in greater competition between different types of use.
Higher rents increase automation pressure
The continuing rise in rents in many regions is increasing the economic pressure on operators, especially in the low-margin contract logistics business. Accordingly, investments in automation and AI-based processes continue to gain in importance.
“Automation is increasingly developing from an efficiency issue to a competitive factor. However, such investments make economic sense, especially for longer contract periods, while many users continue to prefer comparatively short leases,” explains Linsin.
In addition, the difference in rents between modern new buildings and existing properties remains clearly visible. As a result, many users are increasingly checking whether higher rental costs can be compensated for by more efficient processes.
Since the end of the first half of 2026, prime rents for logistics properties have risen by an average of 3.2 percent in the top 5 markets. In the secondary centers, it increased by 5.5 percent. The strongest increase was recorded in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region with six percent.
Outlook for the second half of the year
“For the second half of the year, we expect demand for space to remain stable, with take-up of six million square metres on the horizon. In particular, the increasing activity of international trading companies in contract logistics is likely to support the market. At the same time, the supply of modern logistics space in many core regions remains limited, so further pressure on prime rents is likely,” predicts Schekahn.
*Outside of the top 5 markets, CBRE only records deals of 2,500 square metres or more.
**Distribution halls ≥ 10,000 m², built ≥ 2000, hall height UKB ≥ 10 m
