HOUSTON-Take a look at office commercial real estate reports coming out of Houston, and they pretty much say the same thing. Namely, the demand for space continues thanks to the region's position in energy and that large blocks of contiguous space are, by and large, disappearing.

The StudleyReport for Q3 2013 is reporting similar news: It points to an increase of space availability (17.6%), an increase in asking rents ($24.38 per square foot, a 3.8% increase quarter-over-quarter) and overall leasing of 4.3 million square feet, up 11.6% from the last quarter.

According to both the report and to Steve Biegel, Studley's executive vice president and Houston co-branch manager, the activity boils down to the energy industry. "The overwhelming majority of what's going on is either directly related to the energy business, or that serve the energy business," Biegel says.