NAR Reports Office Vacancies On the Rise

WASHINGTON, DC-The National Association of Realtors reports that vacancies in some commercial asset classes are rising–most notably office. As job growth continues, more firms are seeking additional space, usually in newer buildings, Scott Ian MacIntosh, NAR’s senior economist, tells GlobeSt.com. However there isn’t enough demand to completely fill the vacated space.

As a result no one is building on spec anymore, MacIntosh says. “It is all build-to-suit or with significant preleases already in hand.”

Washington, DC, though, bucks the national trend as usual, John Kevill of Jones Lang LaSalle Washington Capital Market’s team tells GlobleSt.com. “We are seeing positive absorption across the board. Of course, there are some exceptions, probably for the same reasons that they are occurring on a national level: tenants move to new buildings and it takes time to back fill old space.”