Buildings aren't perfectly performing. There's usually some amount of vacancy that represents opportunity loss — income that can't be captured. It's a cost of doing business.

The costs for offices in particular have skyrocketed since the pandemic brought work-from-home into the corporate world. GlobeSt.com analyzed data from Cushman & Wakefield's US Marketbeat Office Q3 2024 report, looking at nearly 100 metro regions as well as regional and national views of performance generated by vacancies, asking rents, and square footage.

At the national level in the third quarter, there were about 5.5 billion square feet of office space with an approximately 20.9% vacancy rate and an average $38.15 per square foot asking rent. The total represents about $43.5 billion annualized opportunity loss.