COVID-19 No Longer Main Driver Of Office Demand

New demand was up 21% in January with San Francisco and Los Angeles rebounding most sharply.

By Lynn Pollack | February 25, 2021 at 07:19 AM

New demand for office space in core markets—measured by tenant tours of properties across the country—increased by 21%, or seven index points, in January 2021, a rate that’s on par with previous years but still smaller than it was pre-pandemic. But recent research by VTS shows that local COVID-19 caseloads are no longer the same demand driver they were.

The VTS Office Demand Index shows that office demand nationally was at 40 index points, as compared to 99 points year-over-year. By way of comparison, demand activity was at 100 in January 2018, a time that was relatively stable for office leasing.

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