News
RESEARCH FROM REIS
January 24, 2011
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| It's safe to come out from under the covers, Reis analyst Brad Doremus tells us. Ending a multi-year nightmare, Boston office rents were flat or rising in Q4 compared to the prior quarter, ending two and a half years of declines. Asking rents, currently at $34.93 per square foot, were flat in Q4 2010 (vs. a 0.1% increase for the US) while effective rents climbed 0.4% (outdoing the nation's 0.2% average rise). Asking and effective rents are still down 2.9% and 2.8% year-over-year respectively, as well as 11.3% and 15.7% off their cyclical peaks. Still, Q4?s results are encouraging. But performance of the sector will depend heavily on job growth and the health of businesses, so a continued upward trend is not guaranteed. Luckily, Boston is in better shape than most markets since unemployment was below the national average as of November. |
