The U.S. office market had a successful 2018 as demand continued to rise and vacancy dropped to record lows. Despite this, Colliers International is predicting a soft economic downturn that could potentially affect the market.
Colliers cites tech and coworking firms to be guiding the U.S. market upwards and that tech demand shows no sign of slowing in 2019. On the other hand, office owners may see a halt in coworking companies renting out space in their buildings.
At the end of 2018, office vacancy was at 11.6%, which is a record low. Colliers also revealed that 84% of the country’s market saw positive absorption in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Now, many developers are catching onto the trend and adding new office space quickly. Colliers reported that 125.8 million square feet of office space was under construction in the fourth quarter, with 13.5 million square feet of space being delivered during the same time.
By the end of the year, developers added 58.6 million square feet of office space across the country.
