The post-pandemic focus on office space reduction is waning, according to CBRE.

The percentage of companies that anticipate growing the office space they occupy in the next three years rose to 38% compared to 20% a year earlier, CBRE said in its annual 2024 Occupier Sentiment Survey. The percentage of companies that anticipate reducing their office footprints fell to 37% from 53% in 2023.

"Assuming the economy stays on stable footing, [this] does signal… that there is a recovery under way," Julie Whelan, global head of occupier research at CBRE told GlobeSt. "That does not mean we are at peak vacancy or that we are at the trough of rents. We believe those [negative data points] are likely to follow us this year and next before we reach that peak and trough. There does seem to be a recovery of occupier sentiment. Occupiers are feeling they are in a better place than they have been previously to transact in a more stable fashion."