The latest monthly office use report from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) found that Manhattan office buildings in June 2024 had an average visitation rate of 77% of 2019 levels, the highest monthly total since REBNY began publishing analyses in February of 2023. Year-over-year, the overall average visitation rate in June is up five percentage points. 

REBNY bases its analysis on Placer.ai location data for 350 Manhattan office buildings. The report tracks mobile data of office tenants and their employees, and, where applicable, also reflects the presence of office visitors and retail customers and employees within those buildings.  

“Office building visitation has inched its closest yet to pre-COVID norms,” said Keith DeCoster, VP of research at REBNY. “This is a welcome result not only for office properties but the thousands of retail businesses and the transit system that depend on daytime commuters. Best-in-class properties and Midtown continued to separate from the rest of the market in June. Some B and C buildings, particularly those with prime access to transit, also registered improved visitation.”  

The REBNY data dovetailed with Avison Young’s recent launch of the Office Busyness Index, which tracks mobility data for U.S. office markets. According to the index, Manhattan office utilization (at 76.6% of 2019 levels) is nearly 15 percentage points above the national average of 61% during the same period, and is also up 7.3% year-over-year.