The fourth quarter of 2008 did little to bolster the U.S. office real estate market, as year-end was marked by the fifth consecutive quarter of rising national vacancies, according to the Q4 office report from Colliers International, a leading global real estate services firm. National office vacancies jumped 54 basis points from Q3, and registered 14.19 percent at the close of Q4 2008. One year ago at this time, the national vacancy rate stood at 12.6 percent. This upward trend in vacancy was reflected in both downtown (CBD) and suburban markets nationwide, with vacancy rates at 12.08 percent for downtown markets and 15.19 percent for suburban markets, Colliers said. The continual slowdown in demand for office space underscores a struggling national economy and ongoing contraction of the labor force, as the effects of the credit crisis remain all too palpable, and the nation’s financial implosion shows few signs of abating.
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