Archive for the ‘Trends and Statistics’ Category

8 Benefits of In-Person Meetings: Meeting in Person vs Online

September 5th, 2023

A young woman holding a tablet backlit by sunlight coming through a window confidently addresses her colleagues sitting around her at a table with laptops open in front of them or with notepads and pens for taking notes. Image at Offices.net.

Meetings are an essential aspect of corporate culture. It’s estimated that the average office worker in the US spends a third of their time in meetings, and the figures are even higher for executives and senior staff.

The widespread adoption of online communication tools has transformed the way meetings take place, prompting a debate between the merits of in-person and virtual meetings. In this article, we examine the pros and cons of in-person vs. online meetings and discuss why face-to-face interactions continue to have value.

Online meetings: Pros and Cons

In a relatively short period of time, virtual meetings have become the norm in most office-based companies. Data from 2022 shows that in just two years, the amount of time spent in virtual meetings had increased from 14 hours per week to more than 21 hours per week, matching or even exceeding the time spent in face-to-face meetings. There are several advantages and disadvantages to this virtual meeting format.

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United States Commercial Property Prices Per Square Foot

February 28th, 2023

Smiling office colleagues conduct a meeting discussing United States commercial property prices per square foot. Three people are seated with their laptops open in front of them on the meeting room table while one woman in a grey top stands at the head of the table addressing her gathered colleagues - Offices.net.

The United States is home to one of the world’s largest commercial real estate markets, with an estimated revenue worth of approximately $1.2tr. In terms of size, industrial space is the largest sub-market with 21.7bn square feet, followed by retail with 14bn, and offices, which account for 11.8bn.

In Q1 2023, the average price per square foot for US offices was just over $38. Retail averaged out to $18.09 / square foot, and industrial space came in at just under $8 / square foot. However, there are significant variations in average prices based on location and real estate class. Here is a summary of average commercial rates in key USA cities:

  •   New York: Average gross rates for metro New York offices are $77 / sq ft / year. Industrial space averages $19 / sq ft / year.
  •   Los Angeles: $44 / sq ft / year for offices in the metropolitan area and $11 / sq ft / year for industrial premises.
  •   Miami: In the same range as Los Angeles, at $46 / sq ft / year for offices and slightly lower for industrial space ($8 / sq ft / year).
  •   Boston: $38/ sq ft / year for metro offices, rising to $80 in Cambridge. Industrial properties average $10 / sq ft / year.
  •   Philadelphia: $32 / sq ft / year for city center offices, $27 for suburban space, and $6 / sq ft / year for industrial properties.
  •   Atlanta: Slightly under $30 / sq ft / year for offices with a rate of $35 in Downtown Atlanta. Industrial space is charged at an average of $5 / sq ft / year.
  •   Chicago: Approximately $33 / sq ft / year for office space, rising to averages above $40 in The Loop. Industrial premises average $6 / sq ft / year.
  •   Dallas and other urban centers in Texas: between $25 and $30 / sq ft / year, whereas industrial rates are below $5.

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Where are US Citizens Living & Working After COVID?

November 30th, 2022

The impact of the pandemic can still be felt on multiple fronts, almost three years after its emergence in early 2020. One of the most noticeable of these impacts has been the proliferation of remote work and its influence on where people choose to live and work. Not so long ago, most people chose where they lived based on where they worked or where their industry was focused. Fast forward to the end of 2022, and it’s no longer as cut and dry as it once was. 

In recent years, large cities and their suburban rings have lost some of the appeal that previously allowed them to attract employees and homeowners. Today, the rise of remote work and the decentralization of talent that it provides has given way to a surge in demand for both residential and commercial properties in areas that had previously flown under the radar.

Some pundits are saying that these changes are here to stay, so the question is – where are people living and working in a post-pandemic United States?

close up of a map of the united states with pins inserted showing where are u.s. citizens living and working after covid image at offices.net

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Miami Office Market Report | Q2-Q3 2022

October 28th, 2022

miami office market report q2 to q3 2022 a daytime though slightly cloudy view of the miami waterfront and cbd image at offices.net

Even though Florida’s office sector held strong during the pandemic, some investors are now feeling cautious as a result of geopolitical tensions, inflation, reduced spending, and rising interest rates. Despite the cooling sentiment, vacancy rates for commercial spaces are continuing to decrease across the State, especially in the office market. Fuelling Florida’s continued market positive is an overall increase in jobs, combined with low unemployment rates and generally favorable business conditions.

Market Highlights

Asking rates in Miami Beach have increased significantly, with some offices costing more than $120 sq/ft. On average, however, actual rental prices for this premium market are much lower, at roughly $70 sq/ft.

Additionally, the vacancy rate for Miami Beach is relatively low at 12.7%, just behind Brickell and Wynwood. Consequently, there has been a recent uptick in development activity driven by those looking to take advantage of the favorable conditions. Some notable projects include 1177 Kane Concourse (101,000 sq/ft) and Terminal Island Office Project (161,000 sq/ft), slated for delivery in 2024.

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Here’s the Average Office Worker Salary by Age in 2022

October 13th, 2022

the average office worker salary by age in 2022 a man's hand holding multiple 100 dollar bills fanned out image at offices.net

Median Salary vs. Average Salary: How Much are Office Workers Really Paid?

Given the renewed relevancy of the office as a working environment, we believe it is a prudent time to examine how much the average American office worker earns, by age. 

Median and average salary figures are both commonly used when exploring fair compensation in the workplace. Average salary data is determined by adding together all salaries earned by a particular group and dividing this figure by the number of people in the group, whilst median salary data is derived by arranging salaries from low to high and selecting the midpoint. A lot of people refer to these terms interchangeably, however, most prefer to compare salaries against the median wage – as it isn’t as impacted by the dramatic ends of the spectrum.

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Mid-2022 Atlanta Commercial Real Estate Market Overview

August 8th, 2022

night skyline of mid 2022 atlanta commercial real estate market downtown image at offices.net

Office Space

As of Q2 2022, we’re continuing to see signs of Atlanta’s increased post-pandemic recovery when compared to its peers. Office occupancy rates have shot up dramatically since Q2 2021, though leasing overall has still not reached pre-pandemic levels. Major players — including Google, Microsoft, Visa, and Airbnb — have been in the process of opening up thousands of high salary jobs in offices throughout Atlanta, heavily contributing to the increased positive sentiment that has permeated throughout the office sector in 2022.

Rents have settled after the turbulent events of the early 2020s. Vacancy rates in the metro are still sitting around 18%, making it harder for providers to hike rates. Overall vacancy rates have dropped from 18.8% in Q1 2022 to 18.4% in Q2, providing more evidence of recovery. Despite this, vacant square footage by volume has increased in the metro area, with just over 43 million sq/ft vacant in the middle of 2022 representing a rise compared to the same time in 2021, which saw 42 million sq/ft of vacant office space.

Vacancy rates in Midtown are down to 19% in Q2 2022, compared to 22% in Q2 2021. South Atlanta still shows the lowest vacancy rates across the metro area at 11.7%, though this is up from the Q2 2021 figure of 10%. Despite this increase, recovery is still trending positively when compared to other areas in Atlanta — though reaching the healthy metrics of 2019 is still a ways off. Read the rest of this entry »

US Office Market Trends 2022 – Statistics, Challenges and Outlook

February 24th, 2022

man looks over u.s. office market trends 2022 report at offices.netThe US office market struggle to get back on its feet for most of 2021, despite the year starting with the expectation that this arm of the commercial real estate market would be on its way to recovery by Q3 to Q4. Ultimately, the emergence of the Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19 resulted in forecasts being revised, and the recovery horizon was pushed to 2022.

We’ve collected a brief overview of the trends, figures, and projections for the 2022 US office space market below, check back frequently in the year ahead for more insight into industry trends and recovery projections.

Economic Indicators Tipped to Improve

There are many factors influencing office market performance, but macro-economic indicators are some of the most critical. As we settle into 2022, a decline in unemployment is expected to be one of the most important factors underscoring the recovery of the office market. Recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics outlined a small uptick in unemployment in January 2022, moving from 3.9% at the end of 2021 to 4.0% to end the first month of the new year. Read the rest of this entry »

January 2022 – U.S. National Office Market Report

February 11th, 2022

man delivers national office report at offices.net

Notable Office Market Insights

  •  Ongoing recovery is the main theme, continuing the trend seen in most office markets throughout 2021.
  •  Positive absorption indicators.
  •  Slight increase in rental rates.
  •  Marked differences in occupancy levels, vacancy rates and general performance from city to city.
  •  Remote working practices are still commonplace in key markets, such as San Francisco.
  •  142 million square feet of office space currently under construction.

Lease Rates & Asking Rents

Recent data from Commercial Edge outlines a nationwide rental listing rate average of $38sq/ft in January 2022. These figures may be seen as somewhat inflated due to the number of high quality spaces currently listed due to being vacant, with Class A workspaces being listed at much higher prices.

According to Avison Young, Q4 average rental prices per square foot in gateway markets were as follows:

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The Great Resignation or the Great Retention? How Employers Yield the Power Heading into 2022

December 15th, 2021

man walks down street after resigning during the great resignation at offices.netIn September 2021, 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs. This staggering statistic, combined with the fact that one in four workers had already left a job in the last 12 months, illustrates the clear reality that workers are resigning at significantly higher rates than prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the turmoil the pandemic has brought to the United States economy, workers seem more willing than ever to pivot careers and quit their jobs.

Origins of the Great Resignation

In the 20 years prior to February 2021, the resignation rate in the United States had never surpassed 2.4% in any given month. However, around a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, this changed. Typically, resignation rates are seen to decrease during periods of high unemployment, as was seen in the immediate wake of the pandemic and the uncertainty it generated. More recently, experts have discussed the so-called ‘Great Resignation’, a phrase that is linked to the recent shift that has seen employees leaving their jobs to explore other options.

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United States Commercial Property Supply and Vacancy Rates 2021 (Part 2)

February 25th, 2021

In a previous blog post we examined the performance of the commercial real estate market in some major US cities. This is the second article in this series, which uses data from late 2020 and early 2021 to examine vacancy and supply rates in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston. These statistics illustrate the impact of COVID-19 on the commercial property rental market, as well as the types of properties that are holding strong in the face of negative trends.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a hub for creative, media, and entertainment companies, many of which are office-based. The city’s proximity to major cargo ports makes it convenient for logistics and distribution businesses, both of which have kept the industrial real estate market strong.

Offices

  •  Vacancy rates in downtown Los Angeles are 21.5%.
  •  In Q4 20202, there was more than 5.5 million square feet for vacant space, with 3.4 million feet being in the Financial District.
  •  The majority of vacant inventory involves Class A offices.
  •  Supply increased by more than 2 million square feet in the past 12 months.
  •  No new supply is expected to enter the market as no projects are currently under construction in the CBD area.
  •  Vacancy rates average 22.5% outside of the CBD, however, they reach 56% in the Fashion District.
  •  Vacancy rates are just under 18% in the Greater Los Angeles area.

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