Report: OC Office May Be Reaching Bottom

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—A second quarter office report for Orange County issued Thursday indicates the market is near the bottom—but how long it stays there may be anybody’s guess.Colliers International’s office report for the second quarter shows the pace of negative absorption slowed during the period, and it’s expected to stay near that pace in the third quarter.

“The bottom is nearing—hopefully. It looks like the worst has passed, ” says Michael Gold, a regional analyst for Colliers.

The report shows 1.3 million sf of negative net absorption for the year, however 1.1 million sf of that came in Q1, with 229,000 of negative absorption in Q2, Gold points out. In the second half of 2007, Orange County experienced 1.5 million sf of negative net absorption. “This quarter we’re still negative, but it’s not nearly as bad as what we’ve been seeing in the past year,” Gold adds.