by Calculated Risk on 7/03/2008 12:32:00 AM

From the WSJ: Businesses Take Less Office Space Nationwide

For the second quarter in a row, businesses vacated more office space than they took nationwide, a phenomenon known as negative absorption. The national vacancy rate edged up to 13%, from 12.8% last quarter.
...
The worst-hit areas of the country in terms of office space are those whose local economies are reeling from the housing-bubble burst. ... Only 17 of the 79 markets Reis tracks saw rent growth outpace inflation.

With a combination of negative absorption, and much more office space being completed, the vacancy rate will most likely rise sharply over the next couple of years.

Here is a forecast from Grubb & Ellis back in April:

“With demand turning negative at the same time that the construction pipeline will deliver the 94 million square feet still underway, [office] vacancy is expected to peak at 18% by the end of 2009.”
Grubb & Ellis economist Robert Bach, April 2008