"There appears to be a trend," notes William P. Barrack, a principal at Spaulding & Slye Colliers. "Cambridge's vacancy rates went up first, six to eight months later the downtown area followed, then the suburbs started to feel it." Barrack notes that availability rates for the downtown area spiked in the second and third quarters of 2001 but most firms have solidified their space needs by now.

Of course, the numbers for the fourth quarter of 2001 are not pretty, especially when compared with the same numbers from the year before. Vacancies rate for this area are at 5.2% for this last quarter compared with 1.5% for the year before. The availability rate is at 11.7% for this quarter compared with 4.5% for the year before, with available space including both direct and sublease space whereas vacant space includes only direct space. This area saw a negative absorption of 1.9 million sf as opposed to last year when the fourth quarter saw a positive absorption of 2.3 million sf.

But Barrack says that he is seeing a pick up in velocity recently. "People are more optimistic," he says. "We are seeing more demand and more activity than we were six months ago." Since the second quarter of 2001 he says that they have seen a 12% to 15% increase in activity. Six months ago, he points out, the lack of activity was so sharp when compared with the six months prior to that. The difference now is that people are waiting a lot longer to make deals than they once were. "People's mindsets have changed. They feel they could wait to see what their needs are," he says.