NEW YORK CITY-Last week Mayor Giuliani announced the city gained 7,800 new private sector jobs in November, furthering its position as leading American city for job growth. Giuliani stated, “This news further shows that New York City's economic renaissance continues and has shown no signs of slowing down.” Despite looming fears of a recession, leasing activity continues to outpace last year in the office market, reflecting job growth and the city's overall economy.

According to Insignia/ESG's December 2000 Office Market Review, available space “dropped to approximately half over the past year to 3.5% in Midtown and 4.3% Downtown and declined slightly to 5.3% in Midtown South, despite several new subleases that surfaced.” The report also found that average asking rents “rose to yet another all-time high Downtown, bounced back in Midtown from October's slight decline to within $0.61 of the all-time high and dipped slightly in Midtown South.” The Financial District is still the hottest sub market with 77% of Downtown's leasing and the same percentage of this segment's net absorption.

“For those looking for signs that the sky is falling, they're not here,” Joseph R. Harbert, COO of Insignia/ESG's New York region writes in a statement accompanying the release of the report. “The numbers show that the market is strong and solid.”