Second Quarter 2025 Trends
Office Recovery Cools with Summer Slowdown in Los Angeles County
New office towers sit largely vacant as tenant demand shifts toward sublease opportunities.
Vacancy rose to 16.9% in Q2 2025 as newly delivered space stayed unleased and leasing volume fell 15% compared to the first half of 2024.


Shifting “return to office” trends and evolving workspace strategies continue to slow absorption. The overall vacancy rate rose 20 basis points quarter over quarter to 16.9%, up from a year ago and above the national average of 14.1%. Total vacant office space reached 67.5 million square feet—an accumulation driven by an average of more than 830,000 square feet of newly vacant space added each quarter over the past two years.
Despite the oversupply, direct asking rents remain nearly flat at $2.83/SF full-service gross, down just three cents year over year. Leasing volume for the first half of 2025 declined 15.1% to 8.6 million square feet compared to the same period in 2024, prompting many landlords to offer concessions such as free rent and flexible lease terms to attract tenants.
Looking ahead, property owners may need to rethink strategies, embracing deeper concessions, redesigning floorplans, or repositioning space for hybrid work, to reignite momentum. The second half of 2025 will test whether Los Angeles County’s office market can rebound and how swiftly it can recapture the traction seen in early 2025.