Seattle Office Market
Overall vacancy rose by 170 bps to 19.0% in the first quarter of 2024, and the region saw a net negative absorption of 940,286 SF. The first quarter of 2024 saw an uptick in leasing activity. Leasing volume totaled 2.0 million SF, an increase of 23.9% over the quarter and 16.9% year over year. More than half of the total volume occurred on the Eastside, which saw healthy demand amongst tech companies. Though activity continues to lag in the Seattle CBD, the Eastside and Northend both saw a spike in leasing activity. Eastside leasing activity totaled 2.9% of inventory, just 10 basis points lower than the pre-pandemic quarterly average, while activity on the Northend totaled 1.5% of inventory, just 20 basis points lower than the pre-pandemic quarterly average.
Seattle Industrial Market
The Puget Sound industrial market saw a net negative absorption in the first quarter of 2024, totaling 1,214,923 SF. Consequently, the vacancy rate increased 90 basis points over the quarter to 6.0%. Following a decade of explosive growth, overall asking rents declined slightly for the first quarter. The average asking rate for the first quarter of 2024 was $12.86/SF NNN, a decrease of -1.8% year over year. A total of 1.0 million SF of new product delivered in the first quarter, and 6.5 million SF remains under construction