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Office Absorption Slows in 4Q17

The office market had low office absorption compared to the first three quarters of the year. Is this the beginning of a deceleration trend in office?

By Kelsi Maree Borland | Updated on January 30, 2018

Office absorption slowed down in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the fourth quarter office report from Newmark Knight Frank. While absorption is positive, it fell over the previous quarter and the previous year to 231,144 square feet from in the previous quarter and 237,477 square feet in the fourth quarter of 2016. There has been a steady pattern of deceleration each year, according to the report. In 2014, there was a total of 3 million square feet of absorption. 2015 had a gain of 2.4 million square feet, 2016 recorded 2 million square feet, and 2017 posted 1.8 million square feet.

While the report shows steady deceleration, Steve Kolsky, an EP and managing director at Newmark Knight Frank, says that the numbers are deceptive. “I think that is a little bit misleading because those numbers are based on move-ins, not necessarily deals done,” Kolsky tells GlobeSt.com. “There were some pretty good deals that were done that are not yet reflected in those numbers. Tesla, for example did 130,000 square feet in Venice and Apple did 85,000 square feet in Culver City and neither of those are in the report.”

While he says that activity has been strong, he agrees that activity has slightly waned. However, that may be an effect of deal speed rather than demand. “I would say that there was a little bit of a slow down, but I think part of that was that it is taking longer for deals to get done these days,” he says. “In general, there is still a lot of velocity out there and deals in the market.”

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