|
|
GTA Office Vacancy and Availability Hit Double-Digit Numbers
May 27, 2010
Vacancy and availability rates continued to climb during the first quarter of 2010. The increase can be attributed to a combination of delayed corporate decision making over the past 12 to 18 months due to the recession and decade-high construction levels, which have resulted in higher direct and sublet availability and downward pressure on rental rate across the GTA, according to Avision Young’s recently released First Quarter 2010 Greater Toronto Area Office Market Report.
The GTA office vacancy rate increased to 10.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2010, up 250 basis points from the first quarter of 2009, while the availability rate rose to 11.7 per cent, up 150 basis points over the same period. However, since year-end 2009, the pace of increase has decelerated with vacancy and availability rising by only 20 and 30 basis points respectively.
“Even though the recession is now behind us, soft market conditions will likely prevail in the near-to-medium term before the market reverts to historical norms,” says Bill Ageropoulos, Vice-President and Director of Research (Canada) for Avison Young.
While there are vacancy challenges in several pockets across the GTA, the greatest challenge lies in Downtown Toronto.
“Despite positive absorption in the first quarter, there is more than 7 million square feet available for lease with almost 50 per cent of this space housed in class A buildings in the financial core,” says Mark Fieder, President and General Managing Director of Avison Young’s Ontario region. “This poses a significant challenge to the top five landlords, who control roughly two thirds of the core’s inventory and just over 80 per cent of the available space on the market today.”
|
|
 |
| |
|
|
| |
| < Back |
|
|
|
| Copyright © Canadian Property Management. All rights reserved. |
|
|
|
|