NEW YORK CITY-First-quarter 2011 data released Tuesday by Cushman & Wakefield shows that leasing activity for US CBDs has reached a six-year high. Despite this promising benchmark, an economist tells GlobeSt.com that the numbers don’t necessarily translate to job creation.

“For residential real estate we’re probably still a year away from this type of lift-off from the bottom,” says Ken Goldstein, an economist with the Conference Board in New York City. “The fact that it’s happening a little bit faster in terms of office space suggests that maybe we’re going to finally come out of the mess in overall real estate by the first half of 2012. I wouldn’t be breaking out the champagne on this.”

In fact, the numbers bear Goldstein’s assertion out, as the national CBD vacancy rate sits at 14.6%, a 0.2 percentage point increase compared to the previous quarter. Of the areas with the lowest national vacancy rates, Midtown South in Manhattan leads the C&W survey, with a vacancy rate of 8%, a slight decrease compared to the previous quarter.