Market Activity Focus on High-Value Assets Sustains Growth of U.S. Office Lease Rate

Originally published on July 2, 2021, by Ioana Ginsac for NAIOP E-Newsletter.

Last week, commercial real estate property data and listings platform CommercialEdge published its most recent national office report, which paints a more current picture of office sector activity across the top 50 U.S. markets. Data analyzed for the June 2021 report found that:

• The average office lease rate was up 0.4% year over year, as asking office rents averaged $38.36 per square foot in May.
• Vacancy rates reached an average of 15.6%, following a 240 basis points increase compared to May 2020.
• Office sales closed during the first five months of the year totaled nearly $23 billion, contouring the possibility that 2021 investment activity is likely to at least match last year’s total volume of $61 billion.

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