According to figures compiled by Cushman & Wakefield, the grand total for the overall vacancy rate for this area is 18.5% for the first quarter of this year, up from 17.3% for the fourth quarter of last year. Thomas L. Collins, senior managing director at the firm tells GlobeSt.com that 665,000-sf of space was added to the supply with 125,000 sf added in Cambridge and 540,000 sf added in the suburbs. "In a soft market, that will increase vacancy," notes Collins.

Not surprisingly, the only area that saw its vacancy rates decrease slightly was the city which went from 12.1% in the fourth quarter of last year to 11.9% in the first quarter of this year. The vacancy rate in the suburbs went from 20.6% to 23% in that same time period and Cambridge went from 17.4% to 18.5%.

But Collins dismisses the increases as "slight" and emphasizes that that activity seen in the marketplace now indicates that a recovery is near. "Markets don't turn on a dime," he says. "There is a lot more activity recently. Last year, there was just no activity." It takes at least three to nine months to execute a lease, he notes, which means even if there are a number of tenants in the market today it will take a while for that space to come off the market. Collins acknowledges though, that layoffs are still happening so the market will see some more space but he believes that the market has probably seen its bottom.