AUSTIN—A healthy influx of high-tech employment has played a major role in the recovery of the U.S. office market, says a recent report from CBRE Group Inc., with Austin accounting for the sixth-best market for rent growth in the country.

Austin has seen a double-digit rent growth over the past two years, according to the report, titled “U.S. Tech-Twenty: Measuring Office Market Impact.”

The research tracks high-tech employment and office market conditions in 20 tech-oriented office markets across the U.S., and found a strong correlation between high-tech job growth and accelerating office rents. From Q2 2012 to Q2 2014, Austin experienced 34.2 percent growth in high-tech jobs, while office rents grew by 12.2 percent during the same period.

“Within preferred submarkets, which, in many cases, are the neighborhoods of choice for millennials and high-tech companies, vacant space has become increasingly scarce,” said Colin Yasukochi, director of research and analysis for CBRE Global Research and Consulting. “As a result, nearby submarkets may see increased leasing activity by tech companies.”

“The same scenario holds true in Austin,” said Erin Morales, first vice president in CBRE's Austin office. “Downtown has seen the majority of initial interest from tech users in the last 12 months, but as rates continue to rise and space is harder to come by, technology companies are looking to alternative options in central, southwest, northwest and the fledgling east submarkets for new office space.”

The Bay Area accounted for the top three markets for rent growth–San Francisco, Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Peninsula, respectively–followed by Manhattan, Denver, then Austin; followed by Boston and San Diego.