Savills Studley Releases Q1 2017 Market Report Findings for Houston

Savills Studley, the leading commercial real estate firm specializing in tenant representation, has released its Q1 2017 Houston edition of the Savills Studley Office Market Report.

The quarterly report is an in-depth compilation of office leasing statistics and trends, major transactions, submarket comparisons, employment trends and investment and development trends specific to the Houston area.

Highlights from the Q1 2017 Savills Studley Houston Office Market Report include:

• Mixed results for office leasing and sales activity in Q1 2017 cooled some of the optimism for a market rebound at the close of 2016. While still above the long-term average, office property sales fell from $1.08 billion in Q4 2016 to $745.7 million in Q1 2017. At 2.1 msf in Q1 2017, leasing improved moderately from the previous quarter but is still 33.9% below the historical quarterly leasing average.

• At 30.5%, the Houston office market’s Class A availability rate crossed 30% for the first time in Q1 2017 and is now more than double the Q1 2012 rate. The region’s overall availability rate of 27.1% is 0.2% higher than last quarter and is 9.7% higher than the US Index.

• Corresponding with climbing availability rates across the region, speculative new office development has steadily diminished over the last 24 months. Space currently under construction totals 2.0 msf, one-fifth of the nearly 10.0 msf peak under construction during the previous cycle.

• Houston region overall and Class A average asking rents increased 2 and 3.3% respectively from Q4 2016. Rents are still 3.7 and 5.4% lower than the first quarter of 2016. Houston CBD, Westchase and Northwest/290 Far submarkets saw the biggest quarter-to-quarter rent increases.

• Led by Bank of America’s 209,447-sf lease at the recently announced Skanska Capitol Tower at 800 Capitol Street, CBD accounted for 7 of the 10 largest Q1 2017 transactions.

The 2017 Q1 Savills Studley Houston Office Market Report, as well as a national report and reports for each of the 29 major U.S. markets, can be found at www.Savills-Studley.com.