Stephanie Boyle
Content Marketing Manager, VTS
As of July, employers continue to explore return-to-office efforts, but not all employees are ready to give up work-from-home or hybrid lifestyles. With this, data suggests that employers are no more active in finding office space than they were nearly 18 months ago, according to the quarterly VTS Office Demand Index (VODI).
“There is a disconnect between what we’re hearing in the news and what we’re seeing on the ground. City leaders and employers have by and large publicly stressed their desire to get employees back into the office, but inside their walls, their executives are dealing with analysis paralysis,” said Nick Romito, CEO of VTS. “With today’s market conditions and the push-pull of getting employees back into the office, many employers are simply uncertain if now is the time to make bets on office space. Others are full steam ahead, capitalizing on more favorable lease terms. Right now, the former is dominating the market, and we predict that will continue for the foreseeable future.”
But looking past the slight national decline in demand, regions like San Francisco and New York are seeing year-over-year growth of 5.9% and 7.4%, respectively.
Trends also report that markets that are remote-adverse are seeing greater levels of demand growth than those more remote-friendly regions. Further to this is the rise in searches for space of 50,000 square feet or larger, with some market demand slipping as employers seek out these markets with more spacious offerings.
What is the VTS Office Demand Index (VODI)?
The VODI is the earliest available indicator of forthcoming office real estate trends, locally and nationally, and represents up to 99% of new demand for office space in seven major markets, including New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, and San Francisco. The VODI tracks tenant tours, both in-person and virtual, of office properties across the nation and is the only commercial real estate index to track tenant demand.
The VTS Office Demand Index is powered by proprietary VTS Data, composed of aggregated and anonymized commercial real estate data from the 12B+ square feet of assets managed on the VTS platform.
Get today’s commercial real estate market trends in the latest VODI report:
- How your region stacks up against national demand trends?
- What social and economic factors are impacting tenant office demand?
- Why do some markets lag, and some thrive due to national trends?
Want to learn how to use the data in the VODI? The VTS Office Demand Index is just a sliver of the insights available to you.
VTS Data is your competitive edge in today’s market. Learn how to reinvent your investment strategy using active anonymized data from the $200B in leasing transactions. Benchmark your performance against the market and stay competitive in an ever-changing industry.
Using these insights, only available on VTS, resolve questions about supply and demand, leasing efficiency, and tenant exposure to unlock — and unblock — deals. Learn more about VTS Data here.
Stephanie is a Content Marketing Manager at VTS.