4 Quick Q3 Takeaways
· Austin's average asking rent posted its biggest quarter-on-quarter increase since early 2015, rising by 2% to $32.40.
· While net absorption was slightly positive and availability rates decreased in the third quarter, over the last four quarters, Austin tenants have leased just 5.3M SF of office space—more than 30% below the long-term average. Austin office-using job growth still exceeds nearly all other US metro areas, but the pace has slowed over the last 12 months.
· The availability rate in all but two of Austin’s 14 commercial real estate submarkets sits below the US average of 17%. Austin's overall availability rate charted at 14.3% in Q3, down from 14.8% in the previous quarter.
· With a higher availability rate and lower asking rents than the regional average, Northwest Austin continues to attract large tenants, landing four of Austin’s 10 largest transactions in Q3.
