LOS ANGELES—According to CBRE‘s Q2 reports, all CRE sectors—industrial, retail, office and apartment—are experiencing increased leasing activity and declining vacancy rates. The performance of these sectors suggests that we are at or nearing full economic recovery.
The office market is perhaps the most impressive performing sector, considering it was the last sector to recover after the economic downtown. In Q2 2014, vacancy rates in suburban office markets fell 40 basis points, reaching 14.5%, while urban office vacancy rates fell by 30 basis points, reaching 11.8% on average. More than 71% of the national markets, or 45 out of 63, experienced declining vacancy rates throughout the quarter. However, 15 markets did experience increasing vacancy rates. Not surprisingly, it was those markets with high concentrations of tech and media companies that performed the best. Overall, CBRE expects office vacancy rates to hit 14.4% by the end of the year.