U.S. Office Market Rebounding Faster Than Expected, CoStar Finds

A new report by CoStar projects the U.S. office market will outperform earlier forecasts, but it still faces macroeconomic headwinds.

After the average vacancy at U.S. offices declined in the third quarter for the first time since 2019 — dropping 5 basis points to 22.5%, according to JLL — CoStar has revised its outlook for the market in 2026 from negative to positive.

Previously, the real estate data and analytics firm projected that tenants would vacate 4M SF more than they take up in 2026. CoStar changed its nationwide prediction to 10M SF of positive absorption for next year...