Real Estate Markets in Balance, C&W Reports

NEW YORK CITY-This year, vacancy rates have climbed well above those of 2000 all across the country, but they are still below the historic levels of “markets in equilibrium” according to a new report from Cushman & Wakefield, based here.

Maria Sicola, senior managing director of analytics at C&W and a member of GlobeSt.com Think Tank, an advisory board of real estate professionals, notes that last year was an “anomaly.” In many markets, most notably the Downtowns, vacancy rates were at 5% and less,” she says. “So the rising vacancy rates through mid-year 2001 do no present an imbalance in most markets,” she adds.

At the end of Q2 2001, the national Downtown vacancy rate stood at 9.4%, and at 13.6% in the suburbs. C&W predicts the Downtown rate will level off between 10% and 12% through 2003, and between 14% and 16% in the suburbs.