Houston office vacancy holds steady in September

​​HOUSTON – The local office market had a 21.6 percent vacancy rate in September, down slightly from the 21.7 percent rate recorded last year, according to NAI Partners.​

There is around 51.1 million sf of vacancy space on the market, composed of 47.6 million sf of direct space and 3.6 million sf of sublease space. 

Net absorption remained negative at -670,000 sf year to date, though still an increase compared with this time last year’s negative 1.4 million sf.

So far this year, nearly 1.6 million ​sf of office space has come online across the metro. There is almost 2.5 million sf of space under construction.

The gross average asking rent is $29.32 per sf, up from $28.87 per sf in September 2018.

Local employment has grown at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in 2019.

The unemployment rate in Houston rose to 3.8 percent in July from 3.6 percent in June. ​

Get more Houston-area office news on the Real Estate Center’s website:

• ​​​​​Texas Quarterly Commercial Report
• Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land office news​
• ​​​Monthly Review of the Texas Economy

​Source: NAI Partners​