SoCal Office Market COVID-19 Impact Survey

Looking back, the 10-year trend in Southern California showed solid demand for office space with rents rising to record highs and vacancies declining to cyclical lows.

The current Q1 2020 data does not reflect the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown and the economic impact on the office markets.

Asking Rent Trends

The pandemic has financially impacted tenants but the full effect has yet to be seen. Coworking offices are looking like ghost towns as people have been forced to work from home. Technology companies and professional services firms, which comprised a significant portion of recent growth, are likely to shrink office footprints. 

Vacancy Rate Trends

The financial impact on coworking spaces and office landlords in general will likely grow exponentially the longer people are required to distance themselves from workplaces.

The coming quarters will provide a clearer picture of the impact on the office market as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to develop.

Looking forward, the office markets in Southern California are in uncharted territory. As office tenants close or severely curtail operations for an indefinite period because of the coronavirus threat, vacancies are expected to rise and rents to be adjusted downward.

Office Broker Survey Results

To help our clients get a pulse of where the office market could be headed, we conducted a COVID-19 Impact Survey of our office market professionals.

Our office brokers were asked, “Where do you see the office market headed in the next 3 months?”

Below are the key takeaways of our survey for the Southern California Office Market.