As of November, the national office vacancy rate clocked in at 18.5 percent, lower than the previous month
Read the latest Yardi Matrix Office Market Outlook.
Report Highlights
- The national office vacancy rate clocked in at 18.5 percent as of November—90 basis points lower over the 12 months.
- The sector’s full-service equivalent listing rate was $32.77 per square foot in November—four cents lower than the previous month.
- The national under construction pipeline included 32.2 million square feet as of November, accounting for 0.5 percent of existing stock.
- Office transaction volume hit $48.1 billion as of November, with office assets trading at an average sale price of $190 per square foot.
Modest improvement in vacancy
As of November, the national office vacancy rate fell at 18.5 percent—90 basis points lower year-over-year. Among the top 25 U.S. office markets there were 16 metros where the rate improved during the first 11 months of 2025. However, elevated levels persist across several markets, such as Austin, that recorded the highest November rate nationally at 26.8 percent.
Seattle followed closely, with 26.6 percent, while the lowest vacancy rate was recorded in Miami, at 11.9 percent. Another bright spot was Manhattan, where the vacancy rate reached 13.4 percent in November—the second-lowest in the country-representing a 310-basis-point year-over-year decline. Meanwhile, Twin Cities stood out for vacancy deterioration, reaching 17.8 percent in November, marking a 190-basis-point increase over the past 12 months. Ameriprise Financial’s recent exit from its 1 million-square-foot headquarters office in downtown Minneapolis contributed to this rise.
The national full-service equivalent listing rate was $32.77 per square foot in November—down four cents month-over-month and 0.2 percent year-over-year. The priciest market for rents remained Manhattan, with a $68.36 per square foot average, while the lowest figure was recorded in Detroit, at $21.59 per square foot.
Pricing reaches bottom
There were 32.2 million square feet of office space underway in November—accounting for 0.5 percent of existing stock and 1.7 percent when adding projects in planning stages to that figure. Overall, there was a 44 percent drop in square feet under construction when compared to the previous year.
Boston stood out as national leader in office construction again, with developers adding 4.1 million square feet underway. However, the figure is still less than half of Boston’s pipeline from a year ago, highlighting a slowdown in demand for new lab space, where major federal funding cuts to NIH research grants could pressure life science construction. Markets that followed include Manhattan, with nearly 3 million square feet and emerging as one of the only three major markets that expanded its pipeline in 2025, with a 10 percent year-over-increase. Dallas, with 2.6 million square feet, had the third-largest pipeline in the U.S.
The national office sales volume reached $48.1 billion as of November. Manhattan led all markets in sales with $7.3 billion, while the Bay Area followed with $4.4 billion.
Properties sold at $190 per square foot I November—up 7.1 percent year-over-year but 33 percent below the 2021 peak in the sector. For the first time since 2022, office pricing showed the first sign of stabilization, with the bottom finally appearing. However, discounted sales remained widespread, accounting for 44.3 percent of all office sales during the first 11 months of the year. As more than half of office debt will mature in upcoming years, discounted transactions will gradually increase.
Read the full Yardi Matrix Office Market Report: December 2025.
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