Seattle office space vacancies stabilise

Expert researchers say that Seattle’s office space vacancy rate fell in the summer 2012, others say it rose. What they’re all in agreement with however is that the level of demand didn’t change much in the third quarter and that is a change in itself.

For two years, Seattle’s office vacancy rate has been dropping dramatically as prospective tenants swooped on newly vacated space or utilised newer buildings that have not been filled since the start of the recession in 2007.

Brokers and other observers don’t seem to be surprised or particularly worried about the findings though. Greg Inglin, Senior Vice President of brokerage Colliers International told Seattle News: “It’s more a reflection of the timing of the deals,”, “Plus, generally summer is a slower time.”

Colliers International calculated the vacancy rate fell just 0.1% during the summer from 13.78 to 13.68 percent. Similar findings were also reported by brokerages Kidder Mathews and Cushman & Wakefield/Commerce.

Vacancy rises were reported in the latest Jones Lang Lassalle commercial property report which found the rate rose by 0.2% in the same quarter from 14.2 to 14.4%.

While the slight differences in findings are to be expected it can also be explained as firms take into account different areas and classifications of Seattle’s real-estate to make their calculations. These areas can range from greater down-town Seattle, owner-occupied property to covering the majority of the city.