The amount of occupied office space grew by 10M SF in Q1 and 45M SF over the previous 12 months, in the strongest showing since 2007, according to data from Reis.
With high occupancy, vacancy dropped 10 bps from Q4 ‘15 to 16.2%—down from 17.6% in 2010, as rents grew to $25.20/SF, up 3% from last year.
Despite the hot markets, the pace of expansion is slower than in other expansion periods, when growth of 15M or 20M SF would be common over a quarter, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The slow pace of expansion is partly explained by companies packing the same employees into smaller areas, chucking private offices and making cubicles smaller. [WSJ]
