Phoenix, Norfolk, and Atlanta led office lease renewals in a recent analysis by Moody's Analytics REIS, while New York City and Chicago lagged at the bottom of the heap.

Moody's analysts determined this when they examined recently expired leases relating to office properties collateralizing CMBS loans where at least one top five tenant had a lease that expired within the last six months in 10 cities. Analysts then aggregated data to the metro level with sample sizes of 10 to 50 office properties per metro area.

Phoenix reported lease renewal rate of 79%, with Norfolk and Atlanta following behind at 75% and 74%, respectively. Meanwhile, NYC showed a 40% renewal rate and Chicago clocked in at 50%. But while 60% of office leases in New York didn't renew, one-fifth had a backup in the works (a number that's bolstered by the effects of NYC rents being down 1 to 2%.