Corfac: Vacancies Decrease Across the Country

The international real estate member firm network's report concludes that, on the average, the office vacancy rate for the first quarter was 14.45%, compared to 15.48% in the fourth quarter of 2004; the industrial sector saw a decrease from a fourth quarter figure of 11.47% to just 10.54% for the first three months of 2005. And correspondingly, with the decrease in vacancies during the first quarter came an increase in rents.

Vancouver, British Columbia is the market that is suffering the least among the 52 surveyed, registering office and industrial vacancy rates of 3% and 2%, respectively; numbers that are not expected to change, according to Tony Letvinchuk of Macdonald Commercial Real Estate Services/Corfac International in Vancouver.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Silicon Valley/San Jose/Santa Clara, CA market is in the number one spot for the most disappointing numbers of those markets surveyed. The area shares the spotlight with Dallas as the market with the highest office vacancy at 24%; the northern California market's industrial sector has a vacancy rate of 25%. However, the comparably figures in this area are not expected to last according to those in the know. "We are on course for slow continued improvement in the market," says Ray Baker of Santa Clara's CPS/Corfac International. "Users will see rents gradually increasing and high quality space decreasing."

Some of the biggest discrepancies between office and industrial vacancies can be seen in Denver and Des Moines. Denver's office vacancy rate reached a staggering 22% in the first quarter, while the industrial rate is just 9%. A similar situation exists in Des Moines, although in reverse. The area's office vacancies were at 12%, while the figure in the industrial sector has risen to 22%.