WASHINGTON, DC-Q1 figures are coming out and per the usual, they vary ever so slightly from research firm to research firm. There is a reason for that (more on that in a moment) but the bottom line is this: the overarching trends are invariably the same among all the reporting groups, CBRE's research director, Jeff Kottmeier, tells GlobeSt.com.
For the record, here is CBRE's take on the local markets as of the end of the first quarter: In the District, vacancy rates decreased slightly to 10.4%, and the first quarter ended with positive net absorption over 300,000 square feet. In the Northern Virginia office market, vacancy rates increased to 15.9% in the first quarter from 15.3% in the previous quarter, with negative net absorption of 231,000 square feet. Suburban Maryland's vacancy rates climbed to 16.1% in the first quarter from 15.4% at the end of 2012, and net absorption was negative 94,000 square feet.
There are a number of reasons why these figures will vary slightly from Cassidy Turley's or Delta Associates' – reasons that are relatively benign. Kottmeier was happy to explain the sausage-making that goes into these numbers as he usually fields similar queries from clients. It is usually either due to timing or how a submarket is defined. For instance, if a deal closes on the last day of the quarter, one group might decide to include it in the quarter's figures, another might not. Also, he says, companies have different building sets. "So maybe JLL will count a building as part of a submarket's inventory while Cassidy Turley may not."
In the long run, he adds, these blips always even out.
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