Rents for Fancy Office Space Creep Downward

We all know that increased concessions (like rent-free months) have been bringing down real Class A office rents for a while now, but for the first time since 2005, asking Class A rents have begun to creep downward.

The Real Deal has crunched the numbers from the first quarter Colliers ABR report and is reporting:

"The average asking rent for Class A office space in Manhattan slipped almost 1 percent to $86.53 per square foot in April, from $87.38 per square foot the month before. This marked the first month-to-month decrease in Class A asking rent since fall 2005, according to a monthly market report from Colliers ABR.

Overall asking rents were up, however, owing to price increases for Class B and Class C space. Average asking rent was $66.42 per square foot, up 1.6 percent from $65.38 per square foot in March.

The borough's vacancy rated increased 50 basis points to 8.3 percent in April. Vacancy slipped up the most in Downtown last month, increasing to 8.1 percent, from 7.0 percent in March.

You can read the entire report here.