A real estate firm has reported that rates for office spaces in Austin have reached all-time highs. Rates in the downtown area have hit the $50 per square foot mark.
Commercial real estate agency Cushman & Wakefield/Oxford Commercial (CWOC) released a report on Austin's office rental rates that showed a 13.2 percent increase in the months of July, August, and September for this year compared to the same period in the previous year. The report was announced on Oct. 20, according to Community Impact Newspaper.
CWOC said that in the third quarter of 2015, rental rates averaged $33.02 per square foot which is higher than the $29.17 registered last year in the same time frame. Premium office space or Class A units that are located in Austin's downtown central business district showed the biggest jump in prices with an 11.5 percent at $48.07 per square foot.
Data from CWOC also showed that there are more office spaces available in 2015 compared to the previous year. There are 1.8 million square feet of space available for this year as compared to the 1.7 million square feet that were made available in 2014. Rick Whiteley, a CWOC partner issued a statement that said, "There's a very high level of demand by office tenants to locate and grow in Austin, and the office sector continues to feel it. Developers continue to respond with lots of new product, and tenants continue to absorb the new supply."
Meanwhile, in a report by Austin Business Journal, while rates of commercial spaces are increasing, the opposite is happening to Austin's condominiums. Data recorded and compiled by The Hardeman Report showed that the rates for three-bedroom condo units are down by 31.5 percent compared to last year's third quarter. From a high of $734 per square foot the price is now at only $463 per square foot.
