Due in large part to nearly 140,000 square feet of space coming onto the market at 1325 Avenue of the Americas, Manhattan's overall vacancy rate rose slightly from 8.8% in June to 9% in July. Sublease space reached its highest level in a year. Last month, nearly 100,000 square feet of space entered the market tat 399 Park Ave. and 78,000 square feet became available at 11 West 19th St.

Some key factoids from the Cushman report include the strength of the Class C market in Downtown last month. Leasing activity for Class C space garnered an impressive 37% market share, the highest rate for that sector since July 2013. The Class C vacancy rate in Downtown at the end of July was 7.6% as compared to Class A's vacancy of 11.6% and Class B's 6.6% rate.

• Midtown asking rents for Class B space reached a record high in July of $60.40-per-square-foot.

• A total of 43% of all leasing activity in Midtown South last month came from the financial services industry, besting the usually stronger TAMI sector.

NEW YORK CITY—Although leasing volume in July was the lowest since October of last year, Cushman & Wakefield says the 1.5 million square feet leased last month still indicates Manhattan's office market is in fine shape.

The brokerage firm in its Marketbeat Office Snapshot for July, reports the overall asking rent in Manhattan increased 4% year-over-year, setting a new record of $73.27-per-square-foot. Asking rents in 17 of the 19 Manhattan submarkets increased in July as compared to a year earlier.

The report, authored by Richard Persichetti, regional research director tri-state and Northeast for Cushman & Wakefield, notes that Midtown asking rents rose to $79.31-per-square-foot—the highest level posted since December 2008. Other positives concerning asking rents in Manhattan include Midtown South, where asking rents climbed from $67.26-per-square-foot in July 2015 to $68.85-per-square-foot last month. Downtown asking rents in July were the highest in five months at $59.34-per-square-foot and were 2.7% more than a year earlier.

“Although leasing lost some momentum in July, several pending leases should boost August leasing activity,” Persichetti states in the report. Compared to a year earlier, leasing activity declined 16% but still is healthy at 15.1 million square feet thus far in 2016. The two largest leases last month—Bloomberg LP's 204,442-square-foot deal at 919 Third Ave. and Morgan Stanley's 110,025-square-foot lease at 399 Park Ave.—accounted for 21% of all new deals transacted in July.

Due in large part to nearly 140,000 square feet of space coming onto the market at 1325 Avenue of the Americas, Manhattan's overall vacancy rate rose slightly from 8.8% in June to 9% in July. Sublease space reached its highest level in a year. Last month, nearly 100,000 square feet of space entered the market tat 399 Park Ave. and 78,000 square feet became available at 11 West 19th St.

Some key factoids from the Cushman report include the strength of the Class C market in Downtown last month. Leasing activity for Class C space garnered an impressive 37% market share, the highest rate for that sector since July 2013. The Class C vacancy rate in Downtown at the end of July was 7.6% as compared to Class A's vacancy of 11.6% and Class B's 6.6% rate.

• Midtown asking rents for Class B space reached a record high in July of $60.40-per-square-foot.

• A total of 43% of all leasing activity in Midtown South last month came from the financial services industry, besting the usually stronger TAMI sector.