Houston Office Insight 3Q 2012: Jones Lang LaSalle

HOUSTON – Houston rents continued to grow and closed 1.9 percent higher in third quarter 2012 than averages closed last quarter, standing at $27.38 per sf, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

Class A rates jumped from $30.62 per sf in Q3 2011 to $32.50 per sf in 3Q 2012, while Class B rates increased from $19.19 to $20.40.

City wide vacancy has decreased 30 basis points from last quarter and now stands at 15.8 percent.

Houston’s transactional activity has surged and is evident in the 927,563 sf of additional occupancy in 3Q 2012. Houston maintains the second-place spot in total year-to-date absorption among U.S. markets with 2,689,971 sf of additional occupancies in 2012, trailing only Silicon Valley.

Class B absorption was 660,000 sf in 3Q 2012, much higher than the 210,890 sf in 3Q 2011.

On a national level, Houston has accounted for 13.8 percent of year-to-date overall absorption despite it only accounting for 4.0 percent of the U.S. overall office inventory.

Source: Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

Read more at the Houston Business Journal.