Houston Office Vacancies Drop

Year-over-year vacancy in the Houston office market dropped 80 basis points, reaching its May 2019 rate of 20.8%, according to data released by NAI Partners. Delving deeper into the metrics:

• The Central business vacancy clocked in at 23.3%, down from its May 2018 rate of 24.3%
• The Energy Corridor’s May 2019 vacancy rate of 30.3% is down, year-over-year, from 34.4%
• Year-to-date net absorption is 464,484 square feet, an increase from the -1.9 million square feet reported the year before

Even with the good news, “this doesn’t mean the office market is out of the woods yet,” NAI Partners noted.

Metro Houston added 67,800 jobs between March 2018 to March 2019, according to the Texas Workforce Commission, a 2.2% increase. Of particular interest was 200 jobs added in energy, exploration and production, “the first sign of growth after four years of job losses in the sector,” according to NAI Partners.

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