According to a report from Cushman & Wakefield, office tour activity grew over the spring, nearly tripling in the first quarter and throughout August of this year.
However, tours took a dip in September, which the firm says is in line with seasonal trends.
VTS data revealed similar trends, but it’s forecast painted a grimmer picture.
Office space demand fell for the second consecutive month in October to its lowest levels since the beginning of 2021, which may indicate that the post-vaccine race to snatch up new office space may be over.
“The longer we stay in limbo—the place where, even with vaccines and better COVID-19 treatments, there is still trepidation about returning to work—the greater the likelihood we have a permanent loss of demand for office space and eventually, a new normal,” said Nick Romito, CEO of VTS.
On the other hand, CBRE reported that many of the top office markets in the U.S. saw a spike in office leasing demand at the end of November.
Cushman also added that tour activity is still double the levels seen in the fall of 2020.
According to Petra Durnin, head of marketing analysis at Raise, these patterns indicate that the office industry is actually evolving, rather than collapsing.
“The shift from highly centralized offices near talent pools to a distributed workplace strategy means many companies are adopting not only a hybrid model but a hub/spoke/remote model and evaluating multiple locations across the U.S. with a heavy focus on sublease space or coworking,” said Durnin.
