U.S. technology hubs see biggest advance in office vacancies, report says

Certain technology hubs have seen the largest increase in office vacancy rates in the past year in the U.S., according to commercial real estate platform CommercialEdge.

Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Seattle saw the highest increases, according to the March 2021 report, increasing by 7.2, 5.5 and 4.8 percent, respectively, over the past year. By comparison, the national office vacancy rate increased by 1.4 percent last year, the report said.

In addition, “the effect of the pandemic on rising vacancies was most evident in central business district (CBD) submarkets, where typically high density is incompatible with social distancing requirements,” CommercialEdge said.

The only U.S. markets that had a decrease in vacancy were Philadelphia, Phoenix and New Jersey, it said.