Houston Commercial Rents Plunge As Vacancies Hit 22-Year High

There is seemingly no end to the growing problem of commercial real estate vacancies across the country. And while we’ve spent a lot of time talking about the largest markets of New York and San Francisco, Houston, one of the hardest hit markets from the collapse of oil prices, is also in the midst of its own real estate collapse. In fact, per a recent Q1 market update from NAI Partners, commercial vacancies in Houston have just reached a 22-year high.
Houston’s overall vacancy rate rose to 20.0% in Q1 2017, an increase of 100 basis points quarter-over-quarter and 260 basis points year-over-year. Net absorption stood at negative 778,758 sq. ft. as of the quarter’s end – on the heels of the more than 1.4 million sq. ft. of negative absorption for full-year 2016. In addition, both Houston citywide overall rent and leasing activity are down from last quarter, as well as from Q1 2016.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Apr 17, 2017.