Despite generally positive trends in office markets worldwide,the report's author, senior vice president Ross Moore of theColliers International Boston office, says "several key financialcenters are beginning to feel the effects of the global creditcrunch." At the same time, however, he reports emerging economies"remain unfazed" with "a voracious appetite for office space."

The Colliers report is the latest in a series of studies inrecent months that have attempted to put the office market, thecapital markets and the global economy into perspective as buildingowners, tenants and investors try to figure out where the officesector is headed. It examines the office sector worldwide on aregional basis, looking at how the sector has performed and mightbe expected to perform in the US and Canada, Europe, the MiddleEast, Asia, Latin America and South Africa.

US and Canadian office markets both slowed slightly in thesecond half of 2007, with US average vacancies holding steady whileCanadian vacancies fell 30 basis points to 5.7%. New York City'sMidtown market, generally one of the strongest in the US, "softenedmarginally" with an overall vacancy rate of 6.8% and a class Avacancy rate of 5.8%, according to the report.