Office leasing volume picked up in Q3, rising 6% to 3.5M SF closed in the quarter. That’s slightly above the market’s five-year average, but below our two-year average, says Savills Studley research manager Tim Wingfield (who shared this newborn pic of his daughter Kathryn, who just turned two months old). Class-A volume really leapt this quarter though, jumping 23% to 2M SF thanks to strong increases in the Katy Freeway (590k SF) and West Loop/Galleria (320k SF) submarkets.

Some of the biggest deals of the quarter include BP’s 189k SF lease at 737 N Eldridge, the GSA’s 113k SF deal at 126 Northpoint, and EMAS’ 100k SF at 825 Town & Country Way. But most of our deals were below 100k SF, which Tim thinks will happen again in Q4. Tim predicts leasing will also hold steady in the 3.2M SF to 3.8M SF range this quarter.