WALNUT CREEK, CA—Before the global pandemic that roiled the economy and commercial real estate industry, commercial real estate brokers were noting a growing trend of companies moving out of dense West Coast markets. Faced with rising prices, and lack of office and industrial space, along with the rising cost of housing and business taxes, many small- and middle-market enterprises were under pressure.

The cost of doing business and heightened competition in top markets such as the Bay Area, Silicon Valley and the Los Angeles metro was untenable, and companies began to set their sights on inland markets. The COVID pandemic is projected to accelerate this trend, according to Ed Del Beccaro, executive vice president with TRI Commercial/CORFAC International.

In California's major markets pre-March 2020, vacancies were decreasing in every sector except retail, which had exhibited an overall demand dip regardless of location. At the same time, the affordability and availability of housing in California were making it difficult for working- and middle-class people to find homes. In 2019, Census data showed that more people had moved out of California than had moved in for the seventh year in a row and a University of California Berkeley poll found 71% of people cited high cost of housing as the top reason for wanting to leave the state.