Pittsburgh Scores Low Office Vacancy Rate

PITTSBURGH-The Pittsburgh office vacancy rate at the end of the second quarter was at 8.2%, which scored the lowest of 20 major US office markets tracked by commercial brokerage firm Avison Young.

The Toronto-based firm states in its mid-year 2013 office market report that only Pittsburgh and Washington, DC (9.3%) had an office vacancy rate in the single digits.

The overall average vacancy for the American office markets tracked by Avison Young was 14.7%, a hair lower than the 14.8% rate posted a year earlier. Avison Young reports that Class A rents averaged $48 per square foot for space in central business districts and $27 per square foot for suburban office space, according to the Pittsburgh Business Journal.

Energy, technology and health care have been growth sectors for the Pittsburgh office market. Avison Young also reports that while New Jersey posted the highest vacancy rate among Avison Young's U.S. markets with an increase in vacancy year-over-year to 20.9%, “the market is headed in a decidedly positive direction after recovering from a slow first quarter of 2013 when vacancy was 21.4%. The ongoing growth of the life science and healthcare industries, accounting for five of the top six lease transactions that contributed to office absorption, have breathed new life into the New Jersey market.”

Avison Young stated that other top performing markets include San Francisco; Washington, DC; New York; Houston; and Boston. See story in the Pittsburgh Business Journal.