According to a recent quarterly report from Cushman & Wakefield, the office vacancy rate in Washington DC remains low compare to the rest of the USA.

Last quarter, the office vacancy rate gradually rose to 12.5%, up from the 11.2% seen in the previous quarter. The district is currently seeing its highest office vacancy rate since 2006, but still nowhere close the 15.5% seen back in 2003.

Such a low vacancy rate compared to the rest of the nation has given the opportunity to landlords to raise the rents, as the city hasnt been affected by the slowdown as much as the other states in the USA. For the rest of the country, the slowdown in the leasing activity resulted in a 2.2% decrease of the average office rent price.

Washington DC currently has the nations second most expensive rents after New York office space. The average rents in the District rose 1% since the last quarter and have reached $50.85.

It seems like the commercial office space market in the District hasnt been affected as much as the rest of the country, and we could see the average rents rising in the coming quarters in the District along with the ones in Portland, Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia, as the cities all have a below average rates in the last quarter.

Written by Emily Mouquot, Marketing Director.