Greater Houston Partnership: 12 to 18 More Months Before Recovery

Houston will likely end 2015 with 9,200 job losses, according to Greater Houston Partnership VP Patrick Jankowski. (Patrick keynoted Transwestern's Trendlines event Thursday; we snapped him with Transwestern CEO Larry Heard.) We're coming off five years of unprecedented growth, in which Houston added $110B to our economy. (Austin's whole economy is $115B.) We created 490,000 jobs in that time, or one job every five minutes for the last five years. This year will be negative, and Patrick predicts that won't let up for another 12 to 18 months at least. (Even when oil prices pick up, there will be a lag before hiring resumes.)

Manufacturing is suffering the most so far, with 14,500 jobs lost since December. Despite that, Patrick predicts industrial vacancy will remain below 6%. On the other hand, office vacancy could reach 20%, and he thinks multifamily occupancy will dip below 90% next year. Don't just write off 2016, though, he says—we'll still see population growth, we haven't broadly overbuilt, and this will not be a repeat of the '80s, or even '09.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's Houston Newsletters
Related Stories

Houston-Area Manufactured Home Community Offering Units Below $90K

Brandon Johnson Seeks Second Term Amid Strained CRE Relationship

16K SF Restaurant, Event Space Opens At 5POP Office: The Houston Deal Sheet

SpaceX Sues Texas AG, Grimes County Over Terafab Project Information

25 Years After 9/11, Lower Manhattan Is Finally Firing On All Cylinders

Houston Healthcare's Race For Space Hits A Data Center Roadblock

Summer Broke The Script. Here's What CRE Is Walking Back Into

3,500-Home Margaritaville Active Adult Community Coming To Texas City: The Houston Deal Sheet

Houston Industrial Supply Boom Tempered By Lack Of Equity

Houston Firm Hires Former Floor & Decor Exec As President Of New Offering

Northmarq Hires Prominent Houston Retail Team Away From CBRE

Lenders Up Foreclosures On Financially Stressed U.S. Households In 2026