Office Vacancies Tick Up Nationally, Drop in Many Local Markets

“Despite the slight rise in vacancy, we see the new supply as healthy overall,” says Levy.

LOS ANGELES—The fourth quarter saw an average increase of 10 basis points in the US office market, CBRE said Thursday, with vacancies up 10 bps year over year to 13%. It represented the first annual increase nationally since 2010.

“The fourth quarter’s slight office vacancy rise can be attributed to an increase of supply and a slight loosening in the tightness of the market as we have closed in on the previous cyclical low,” says Spencer Levy, Americas head of research for CBRE. “Despite the slight rise in vacancy, we see the new supply as healthy overall, as many markets were becoming space constrained, in particular for large block space.”