While the Texas capital had positive office employment growth, the national picture was different. Overall U.S. office-using employment decreased 3.4 percent year-over-year. Similarly, only 151,000 jobs were added in the first two months of 2021 as compared to 209,000 per month between May and December 2020, according to a report from Commercial Edge.

Likewise, office sales since the beginning of the year totaled $5.5 billion, marking a sluggish take-off compared to the $11.7 billion reported for the same time period in 2020.

However, as vaccines become available to more people in the workforce and businesses begin to consider return-to-office strategies, the industry expects an increase in sales activity throughout the year. Then, perhaps by the fall, the office industry might have a clearer view regarding the future use of workspaces, says the report.