Real investment in the US office market is proving slow to pay off as vacancy rates show little improvement this year. Analysts blame the sluggish economy for the fact that businesses remain conservative in their expansion plans. All players in the commercial real estate sector continue to look for clues as to when a pickup in investment and hiring by corporate America may occur.
Vacancies in the US office real estate market reached a record last year, and have only come down slightly since that time. In some of the hardest hit markets, rents have fallen by as much as 50% as well. Still, many economists continue to forecast a slow and steady recovery for the sector going forward. Washington, DC had the lowest office vacancy rate in the country at 9%, followed closely by New York at 10.7%.