Manhattan Office Market Experiences Best Month Since Prior To The Pandemic

According to Colliers’ monthly report, November marked the best month for Manhattan office leases since prior to the pandemic. 

Over 3 million square feet of office space was leased last month, which is the first time the market has seen these numbers since January of 2020, when 3.6 million square feet of office leases were signed. 

“Leasing volume has certainly picked up compared to 2020, but there’s still a significant road ahead in terms of catching back up to the pre-pandemic leasing volume,” said Franklin Wallach, Senior Managing Director of Research at Colliers. 

The report showed that leaving activity increased by 14% from October, while available reached 16.9%. Additionally, sublease availability decreased from the month prior, but inventory is still up over 60% of March 2020’s levels. 

Rents also saw an increase last month, with the average asking rent climbing to $74.14 per square foot. 

Despite the uncertainty of the market, a survey from Visual Lease found that almost 60% of tenants are currently seeking office leases for at least five years.