B
oston office vacancy rates have finally decreased after five years, thanks to a combination of factors including tenant expansions and strong preleasing in new developments. According to JLL's Boston Q3 Office Outlook, direct vacancy dropped by 30 basis points to 17.3%, while total vacancy fell by 40 basis points to 21.7%.

    Boston led the US major markets in office attendance growth over the past four quarters, with a 10.3% increase according to Placer.ai data. The city also saw its largest quarterly space absorption since Q3 2018, with a total of +519,354 square feet.

    New construction and conversions will continue to shape vacancy rates in Boston. An additional 20,000 square feet of converted space will be removed from the market over the next quarter or two, on top of the existing pipeline of 1.75 million square feet under construction at 48.7% preleased – significantly below the average preleasing rate of 82% at delivery.