The total available office space in the U.S. surpassed 1B SF for the first time in history — meaning 23.7% of the nation's office inventory is up for grabs. 

Slumps in office leasing activity in the aftermath of the dot-com bubble and the Global Financial Crisis created significant strife for commercial real estate, but it wasn't nearly as pronounced as today’s office pain, Avison Young U.S. President Harry Klaff told Bisnow.

“Even though we were in recessions, there wasn't a functional change in how people were using office space,” Klaff said. 

Factors such as remote work, high interest rates and economic uncertainty have significantly impacted office markets. Office leasing activity in Q1 decreased by 32% from the previous year and 36% from the pre-pandemic average, according to new data from AY.

However, there are beacons of light on the horizon.

Swaths of layoffs in the last two years — particularly in the tech sector — is starting to shift the balance of power between companies and workers, the AY report says. 

Oh, and there is that pesky rate cut to hope for.

— Mark F. Bonner, Bisnow Editor-in-Chief

Connect with me on X: @markfbonner