FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tracy Johnson, President & CEO, CARW | 414-698-7474 | tracy@carw.com
Chris Allen, Director of Analytics, REDICRE | 952-456-1669 | chris@redicre.com
MILWAUKEE, October 2026 – The Commercial Association of REALTORS® Wisconsin (CARW) has released its 2026 third-quarter market reports, providing a comprehensive overview of trends across the industrial, office, and retail sectors. The report was produced in collaboration with CARW members, Moody’s, and REDICRE.
Several highlights from the third quarter reports include:
Milwaukee/SE Wisconsin Q3 2026
- Office vacancy fell to 18.6% as the market added 304,258 sf of occupied space. The suburbs accounted for 228,800 sf of that.
- Industrial absorption reached 1.75 msf year to date, with vacancy at 5.3% and 4.6 msf under construction.
- Investors stayed active in industrial, with 86 properties selling for $362.8 million in Q3.
- Retail vacancy is 6.3%. A new 161,500 sf Costco in Waukesha Northwest drove the quarter’s biggest gain.
- Office vacancy rose to 17.5% after 208,094 sf of negative absorption. Nearly all of it came from QBE vacating 207,500 sf across three buildings in Madison North.
- Industrial vacancy is just 2.8%. The market absorbed 388,000 sf in Q3 (779,800 sf year to date), led by Oakhouse Bakery’s 138,000 sf lease in Madison Northeast.
- 3.9 msf of industrial is under construction, 86% of it in Madison East.
- Retail vacancy is 5.3% after 111,586 sf of positive absorption. No submarket posted a loss, and IKEA’s 54,000 sf lease led Madison West.
Read detailed overviews and all reports HERE
If you’d like access to this report and the full suite of Moody’s benefits, including REIS reports, contact Tracy at tracy@carw.com.