At the end of 2021, Mexico City ranked second in terms of gross industrial real estate demand. registering one million 290 thousand square meters, only surpassed by Monterrey. This amount represented for the country's capital an increase of 35% with respect to industrial demand in 2020.

The net demand that also incorporates the vacancies registered an annual amount of 718 thousand square meters, this being the maximum annual value of the last four years.

On the supply side, the construction of 793 thousand square meters of industrial buildings is currently progressing after 2021 where construction on average moved around 500 thousand square meters, which has driven it to grow at a rate slower than demand.

Therefore, when low levels of supply crossed with higher demands, this effect was absorbed by rental prices, which registered an 11.6% increase in the last year.

See also: Nearshoring and relocation key to growth in industrial demand in northern border markets

Since January 2021, the slope of the rental price curve has been constantly growing, registering $6.00 dollars per square meter per month as of February 2022.

If we analyze Cuautitlán, the submarket with the highest demand during the third and fourth quarters of 2021, we observe that 40% and 32% of capital demand was concentrated there, respectively. The rental price reached by this broker during 4Q 2021 was $5.87 dollars per square meter per month.

Currently, in Cuautitlan alone, 243 thousand square meters are under construction, of which about 60% are available at a price that ranges from a minimum range of $3.52 to a maximum of $6.25 dollars per square meter per month.

The Naucalpan, Tlalnepantla and Vallejo submarkets registered much higher average rental prices during the last quarter of the year, with $7.47, $7.24 and $9.10 dollars per monthly square meter, respectively.

The Vallejo submarket, due to its proximity to demand, confers it the condition of housing last-mile real estate that is the objective of the main developers and investors that compete for these spaces.

Of interest: Growing interest in last-mile spaces in the country's large urban centers

The capital's demand has been influenced by the growth of the logistics sector and companies such as Mercado Libre, Walmart, Estafeta, DHL and The Home Depot are some of the most representative that generated demand in the last two quarters of 2021.

So far between January and February 2022, it already exceeds 88 thousand square meters and it is expected that by the end of the quarter much greater movement will be generated in this highly competitive market.

As an example, Mercado Libre, one of the largest Latin American marketplaces, announced that it will invest 1,475 million dollars this year, which represents an increase of 34% compared to what was registered in 2021. The company will focus on boosting its network logistics, with more distribution centers, more last-mile capacity, promoting faster deliveries and strengthening its entire structure in means of payment.