MIAMI—At the end of the third quarter, office fundamentals in Tampa remained solid with an impressive 228 bps decline in the direct vacancy rate over the trailing 12 months to a current 11.03%, healthy net absorption for the year-to-date of 530,963 square feet, and a notable uptick in the asking rental rates of $1.49 per square foot since the third quarter of 2016 to a current $22.89 per square foot on a full-service gross basis. That's according to Avison Young's latest report.

Nearly every submarket has recorded positive net absorption so far in 2017 with the exception of North Pinellas and Downtown Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg's bump was largely due to a significant block of office space landing on the market following the disposition of the former Priatek Plaza during the second quarter, Avison Young reports.

Although the market is finally experiencing a fair amount new speculative development, Trey Carswell, principal at Avison Young, tells GlobeSt.com most of this focus appears to be on larger tenants. By larger he means 200,000 square feet or more.