TOKYO -- The vacancy rate for large logistics facilities in greater Tokyo has risen to the highest in five and a half years amid a growing sense of oversupply.

The rate reached 8.9% at the end of June, up 0.6 percentage point from three months earlier, according to real estate services provider CBRE.

Roughly 445,500 sq. meters of space was added to the region in the April-June quarter, second only to the October-December period of last year in CBRE data going back to 2004. New demand reached a record 363,000 sq. meters.

Four of the seven logistics centers opened last quarter were fully occupied from the start.

Real estate developers have been building for-lease distribution facilities for online retailers. Singapore-based Global Logistic Properties has filled the roughly 90,000 sq. meters of GLP Atsugi II, a Kanagawa Prefecture facility completed in June.

Prologis reports that a new Chiba Prefecture facility completed in May is receiving tenants as planned for the center's 130,000 sq. meters of space. The U.S. company seeks to bring vacancies down to zero a year or a year and a half after completion.

Still, rents are falling in some areas. Lease rates declined 2% on the year to 3,960 yen ($37.38) per 3.3 sq. meters for areas along National Route 16, a major artery connecting Chiba, Tokyo, Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures. The vacancy rate in these areas rose 3.3 points to 7.8% at the end of June.

"Customers are growing selective about facilities, depending on the distance to highway interchanges," said Yoshiyuki Chosa, president of the Japanese unit of Global Logistic Properties.

(Nikkei)