Texas Office Rebound is One of the Strongest, but What’s Going on with Houston?

Texas’ office market has proven itself to be one of the strongest in the U.S. The market has continued to reflect positive trends throughout its post-pandemic recovery, though the numbers differ slightly from city to city.

Houston, for example? Vacancy and availability continue to rise, despite office brokers reporting increased activity and leased commitments. To break it down, Partners recently analyzed the area’s activity during the first eight months of the year — August 2022 compared to August 2021.

Houston Office Vacancy at 25.5%

Overall vacancy was at 25.5% in August 2022, based on the report, up 100 basis points from last year’s 24.5%. Availability was nearly 30%, up 80 basis points from August 2021. Partners said the difference between this figure and the vacancy rate reflects expected future move-outs. Houston has recorded 9.3 million square feet of leasing activity of both new leases and renewals, which is down 13% from the 10.7 million square feet recorded at this time last year. Net absorption is at negative 100,000 square feet, up from negative 2.2 million square feet year-over-year. In addition, the amount of construction underway is at 2.5 million square feet — down almost 30% from last year. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.