For the first time since 2010, U.S. office vacancies experienced a year-over-year increase, according to a new report by CBRE.
Though still hovering near post-recession lows, the national vacancy rate inched up 10 basis points in 2017. In Q4, vacancies rose to 13%.
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The slight slowdown had been anticipated given that the industry was approaching the end of a seven-year-long expansionary cycle that led to a wealth of new supply coming on the market during that time.
“The fourth quarter’s slight office vacancy rise can be attributed to an increase of supply and a slight loosening in the tightness of the market as we have closed in on the previous cycle low,” CBRE Americas Head of Research Spencer Levy said in a statement.
Both suburban and downtown market vacancy rates increased 10 basis points in Q4; suburban vacancies rose to 14.2% and downtown market vacancies increased to 10.7%.
Tech centers such as Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, Raleigh, Boston and New York still managed to top the list of metros with the lowest overall vacancy rates, a trend that is sure to increase even more should one of these regions win Amazon’s HQ2 bid.
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