In six years, the value of industrial land in the capital has increased by 20%, following the rise of e-commerce and the post-pandemic economic recovery, according to a report by Mercado Libre and consultancy firm JLL.
The industrial land market in Santiago has seen a significant increase in supply values over the past six years, driven mainly by the scarcity of land in established communities, the increase in demand for industrial land due to the post-pandemic recovery, the proliferation of e-commerce and economic growth.
According to a report by JLL and Mercado Libre, between 2017 and 2023, industrial land supply values increased by 20%, reaching a maximum average of 3.77 Unidades de Fomento (equivalent to US$ 159.67) per square meter (UF/m²) in 2023.
The Unidad de Fomento (UF) in Chile is a way of indexing the Chilean peso according to variations in the CPI, so it is a figure whose value varies daily.
This increase was divided into two phases: moderate growth from 2017 to 2020 and a more pronounced increase from 2020 to 2023. In the first period, growth was only 0.5%, but then prices offered grew by 21.5%.
This trend is related to the low vacancy rate in the winery market, especially between 2021 and 2022.
Felipe Larroulet, Industrial Director of JLL Chile , indicates that “the evolution of the market is due to various factors, such as the growing scarcity of suitable land in strategic areas, the growth of the logistics and services industry driven by the post-pandemic economic recovery, and improvements in roads and basic services that increase the value of the land.”
The communes that have seen the most of this increase are the consolidated industrial communes, among which are the peripheral industrial zones of Quilicura, Cerrillos, Pudahuel, Lampa, Renca, among others, which represent 88% of the supply. Along these same lines, communes such as Cerrillos, Renca and Huechuraba have the highest supply values.
The northern area concentrates the majority of the supply, with average prices between 2.19 and 2.67 UF/m² (between US$ 87.5 and US$ 106.71), with stable values throughout the period studied, while the western area has had a constant increase of 25% from 2017 to 2023.
"It is difficult to identify a single factor for the increase in the value of industrial land in established communities. On the one hand, the supply of land has increased; however, the price, instead of going down, has gone up. Some of the factors that we believe are influencing this are that the increase in supply has been mainly in the western and southern areas, while the highest average values are found in the southern and northern areas, where supply has not increased as significantly," explains Gianfranco Aste, commercial manager of the website Portalinmobiliario.com , owned by Mercado Libre.
According to the report prepared by the consultancy firm JLL, the values offered are expected to continue showing an upward trend due to persistent demand and limited land availability.
