▶ RSQUARE publishes '2026 Logistics Warehouse Trend Report: Beyond Supply Competition, Onto Delivery Efficiency'
▶ Vacancy rates are high in large warehouses, while low in small and mega-sized facilities
▶ Pure warehouse area ratio drops from 95% to 67%... "Warehouse structures that maximize delivery processing efficiency dictate competitiveness"
RSQUARE (CEO: Lee Yong-gyun), a comprehensive commercial real estate service firm, published the '2026 Logistics Warehouse Trend Report' on the 7th, analyzing structural shifts in the domestic logistics warehouse supply and leasing markets.
Through this report, RSQUARE analyzed that "the logistics warehouse market has moved away from simple supply-centric competition and has transitioned into a market where demand concentrates based on warehouse structures and tenant industry sectors."
According to the report, starting from the first quarter of 2025, vacancy rates for both dry and cold storage logistics warehouses turned downward, steering the market into a recovery phase. However, vacancy rates displayed distinct disparities depending on the scale of the facility.
As of the fourth quarter of 2025, large-scale logistics warehouses showed relatively high vacancy levels. Conversely, small-scale and mega-sized warehouses maintained low vacancy rates. Analysis indicates that rather than showing a consistent trend across all sizes, demand is focusing intensively on specific types of assets.
The core element driving this demand disparity is the 'ratio of pure warehouse area.' The proportion of pure warehouse space relative to the total gross floor area (GFA) of domestic logistics warehouses plummeted from an average of 95% in 2016 to an average of 67% in 2025. This is the result of shrinking storage spaces necessary for stacking goods, as more square footage has been allocated to common areas, docking facilities, and securing optimal vehicle traffic flows.
Actual warehouse vacancy rates showed a massive gap based on this factor. When the ratio of pure warehouse area was 90% or higher, the vacancy rate stopped at approximately 12%. On the other hand, facilities with a ratio below 60% recorded a vacancy rate of 42%, which is roughly three times higher.
This demonstrates that after passing through an era of purely quantitative supply, "how effectively a facility can maximize delivery turnover rates" has established itself as the definitive metric for gaining an upper hand in attracting tenants.
The supply environment has also undergone transformations. The large-scale influx of new logistics warehouse supply that persisted until 2024 fell sharply going into 2025. Non-residential construction costs soared to all-time highs, severely deteriorating the environment for new developments. Rather than focusing on new supply, the market is reshaping itself around existing, completed assets whose competitiveness has already been proven.
"As demand in the logistics warehouse market flows in selectively, a structure where assets equipped with physical competitiveness in addition to prime location hold the advantage is becoming entrenched," said Tae-jin Ahn, Researcher at the RSQUARE Research Center. "Logistics warehouse operational methods that simultaneously account for structural design, turnover efficiency, and cargo suitability to lower vacancy risks will become the core determinants of market competitiveness."
\ 
▶ RSQUARE publishes '2026 Logistics Warehouse Trend Report: Beyond Supply Competition, Onto Delivery Efficiency'
▶ Vacancy rates are high in large warehouses, while low in small and mega-sized facilities
▶ Pure warehouse area ratio drops from 95% to 67%... "Warehouse structures that maximize delivery processing efficiency dictate competitiveness"
RSQUARE (CEO: Lee Yong-gyun), a comprehensive commercial real estate service firm, published the '2026 Logistics Warehouse Trend Report' on the 7th, analyzing structural shifts in the domestic logistics warehouse supply and leasing markets.
Through this report, RSQUARE analyzed that "the logistics warehouse market has moved away from simple supply-centric competition and has transitioned into a market where demand concentrates based on warehouse structures and tenant industry sectors."
According to the report, starting from the first quarter of 2025, vacancy rates for both dry and cold storage logistics warehouses turned downward, steering the market into a recovery phase. However, vacancy rates displayed distinct disparities depending on the scale of the facility.
As of the fourth quarter of 2025, large-scale logistics warehouses showed relatively high vacancy levels. Conversely, small-scale and mega-sized warehouses maintained low vacancy rates. Analysis indicates that rather than showing a consistent trend across all sizes, demand is focusing intensively on specific types of assets.
The core element driving this demand disparity is the 'ratio of pure warehouse area.' The proportion of pure warehouse space relative to the total gross floor area (GFA) of domestic logistics warehouses plummeted from an average of 95% in 2016 to an average of 67% in 2025. This is the result of shrinking storage spaces necessary for stacking goods, as more square footage has been allocated to common areas, docking facilities, and securing optimal vehicle traffic flows.
Actual warehouse vacancy rates showed a massive gap based on this factor. When the ratio of pure warehouse area was 90% or higher, the vacancy rate stopped at approximately 12%. On the other hand, facilities with a ratio below 60% recorded a vacancy rate of 42%, which is roughly three times higher.
This demonstrates that after passing through an era of purely quantitative supply, "how effectively a facility can maximize delivery turnover rates" has established itself as the definitive metric for gaining an upper hand in attracting tenants.
The supply environment has also undergone transformations. The large-scale influx of new logistics warehouse supply that persisted until 2024 fell sharply going into 2025. Non-residential construction costs soared to all-time highs, severely deteriorating the environment for new developments. Rather than focusing on new supply, the market is reshaping itself around existing, completed assets whose competitiveness has already been proven.
"As demand in the logistics warehouse market flows in selectively, a structure where assets equipped with physical competitiveness in addition to prime location hold the advantage is becoming entrenched," said Tae-jin Ahn, Researcher at the RSQUARE Research Center. "Logistics warehouse operational methods that simultaneously account for structural design, turnover efficiency, and cargo suitability to lower vacancy risks will become the core determinants of market competitiveness."