The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported that the Austin economy expanded in December with strong job growth and a lower unemployment rate. Austin’s unemployment rate fell to 5.7 percent in December. The state’s jobless rate decreased to 7.2 percent, while the nation’s remained unchanged at 6.7 percent.

That being said, overall vacancy in the Austin office market is at 14 percent, up from 9.7 percent in February 2020, according to the latest report by NAI Partners. The increased vacancy rate reflects the recorded net absorption of negative 864,000 square feet, down from positive 479,000 square feet at this time in 2020.

There is 8.4 million square feet currently under construction, with slightly more than half of that space available. There have been five properties totaling 345,000 square feet delivered so far in 2021 with an occupancy rate of 45 percent. The vacancy rate for class-A properties is at 16.3 percent, up from the prior period at 11.4 percent.

The office average annual asking rate of $37.75 per square feet is down about 0.7 percent from this time last year at $38.03 per square feet.