That isn't to say that rents aren't growing in these alternative submarkets as well. CBRE's report says that with one exception, the top submarket in each of the 30 markets analyzed saw rent growth between the second quarter of 2014 and Q2 of this year.

During this period, the highest rent growth could be found in both established and up-and-coming tech submarkets, including University City in Philadelphia, Oakland/East End Pittsburgh, East Cambridge, Palo Alto and Tempe, AZ. The top submarkets for net absorption over the two-year period varied across the country. Along with Tempe and University City, they included Lake Union in Seattle, South Valley in Northern California and Northwest Denver.

Tech-related office leasing accounted for 20% of all office leasing across the US in the first half of the year, up from 18% in 2015, despite an overall slowing in job creation across the sector. Over the past five years, the software/services industry created 780,000 new jobs at a 7.3% annual growth rate. In the first six months of this year, tighter labor and volatile capital market conditions combined to slow job creation to a 4% rate, making a slight impact on certain office markets, including Washington, DC, New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area. “Advanced technology has integrated itself into business productivity and although the talent pool is limited, strong demand for technology services from both businesses and consumers is expected to support hiring by high-tech firms,” says Yasukochi. “The skills of the available labor pool do not appear to align with available jobs, causing a structural barrier to growth.” The continuing demand for technology “should support growth among high-tech companies and high-tech office market clusters.”