Report highlights
- The national office vacancy rate clocked in at 17.6 percent in April—210 basis points lower over the past 12 months.
- The national full-service equivalent listing rate stood at $32.91 per square foot in April—11 cents higher from the previous month.
- The office pipeline comprised 29.4 million square feet, representing 0.4 percent of total stock.
- Office investment volume generated $7.8 billion, with properties selling for $218 per square foot on average.
Miami leads vacancy recovery
As of April, the national office vacancy rate stood at 17.6 percent—210 basis points lower year-over-year. Miami recorded the lowest rate nationwide, 12.5 percent, representing a 300-basis-point decline over the past 12 months. The metro’s rate kept declining from the 15.7 percent registered in early 2025.
Miami’s improvement is tied to its strong growth in office-using employment, with the financial activities sector being the key driver. Miami experienced a wave of corporate relocations in recent years, as many companies took advantage of Florida’s business-friendly environment. Palantir plans to move its headquarters here from Denver, while JPMorgan, Amazon and Citadel all expanded their operations in the metro.
Manhattan followed with a 13.1 percent rate and recording the same year-over-year improvement. In contrast, Seattle’s 25.2 percent stood out as the highest vacancy rate nationwide, despite a 180-basis-point recovery.
As for vacancy improvement, San Francisco led all markets, down 570 basis points year-over-year, followed by Denver (-470 basis points).
The national full-service equivalent listing rate stood at $32.91 per square foot—up 11 cents from the previous month and down 1.3 percent year-over-year. Manhattan remained the top metro for office rents, at $69.29 per square foot, followed by San Francisco’s $62.03 per square foot.
Class A development still the driver as activity dwindles
The national office pipeline included 29.4 million square feet in April—accounting for 0.4 percent of existing stock. Class A and Class A+ space represented the majority of pipeline, as these projects total 25.2 million square feet of 86 percent of the under-construction inventory. In contrast, Class B accounts for only 14 percent of the pipeline, at just 4.1 million square feet.
Boston led the charts for construction activity, with 3.9 million square feet underway. Manhattan and Dallas followed, with 2.9 million square feet and 2.7 million square feet, respectively. Orlando, Fla., stood at the end of the list, with 196,925 square feet underway, just below Chicago’s 202,568 square feet.
Construction activity remains low. In 2025, construction starts totaled 21.6 million square feet. General office starts accounted for 47.6 percent of that volume, while medical office represented 25.8 percent and life sciences 10.9 percent.
The national office investment volume reached $18.1 billion as of April. Investors closed 798 transactions, with properties selling at $214 per square foot on average. Manhattan led the charts for both sales volume and prices, with $2.3 billion in deals and a $712 per square foot average sale price. San Francisco followed, with $1.6 billion in dollar volume and a $686 per square foot average.
Read the full Yardi Matrix Office Market Report: May 2026.
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