Relationship Between Office Visits and Occupancy

Highlights:

• According to Placer.AI – a startup that uses cell phone data to analyze foot traffic patterns down to the property level – employee office visits were 31.3% lower than compared to February 2020 and 18.6% higher than February 2023.
  
  
• Perhaps unsurprisingly, among the eleven metros included in Placer’s report, San Francisco’s office recovery has been the most mired with office visits (as of February 2024) 46% lower relative to February 2020. However, relative to February 2023, office visits in San Francisco were 24% higher, which was the second-highest percentage increase (behind Dallas) among those select metros.

• Combining the Placer.AI with Moody’s CRE data indicates that higher employee utilization rates do not necessarily translate into higher office occupancy rates (but typically do when measured over longer time intervals). The measurement period, sample size, long-term nature of office leases are a few obvious factors affecting this relationship – although unquestionably, increased foot traffic in downtowns bodes well for nearby retail establishments and local municipalities.

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RSK: I like their method of calculation on office visits compared to office occupancy....good graphics.