NEW YORK CITY—Continuing the trend of mixed reports, Colliers International's press briefing—held Wednesday in Midotwn—on the Manhattan CRE market's performance in 2015 featured some signs of continuing strength and others signaling the beginnings of a correction.

Leasing velocity in Manhattan office fell last year but still came in above the ten-year average, while asking rents rose for the 11th consecutive quarter and investment sales for office properties hit near-record trading volume, the firm reported. The year also brought about market role-reversals, with Downtown recording the largest annual drop in activity as Midtown posted its strongest leasing figures since 2003.

At 31.4 million square feet, overall Manhattan leasing activity in 2015 was down 16.1% year-over-year from 37.4 million square feet, but still 8.4% above the ten-year historical average of 28.9 million square feet. The overall Manhattan availability rate of 9.6% was its lowest level since 2008, and the average asking rent of $71.50 per square foot was just 2.5% below the all-time high of $73.31 per square foot set during the third quarter of 2008. The FIRE sector accounted for the largest share of Manhattan leased square footage, at 36%.