Thursday, January 3, 2013, 11:30am
The Greater Boston markets registered 6.6 percent rent growth year-over-year and a positive 1.4 million square feet in net absorption, according to fourth quarter 2012 data released this week by Jones Lang LaSalle.
According to the commercial real estate firm, Boston’s Financial District registered a vacancy rate of 11.9 percent at the year’s end, an improvement of four percentage points over the year.
The Seaport District recorded another strong year with direct asking rents reaching $37.87, up $8 in a single year and eclipsing the Financial District Class B rents for the first time. The Back Bay closed the year with a vacancy rate up 200 basis points over the year in large part due to 185 Dartmouth which was repositioned and put back on the market in the 3rd quarter and is vacant. Still overall, the vacancy rate remains at extremely tight levels at 6.1 percent and asking rents grew 19.2 percent over the year.
In the suburbs, the bright spot remains the 128/Mass Pike market where class A rents have reached $32, and where rents for the prime assets in the market are even higher, and currently equivalent to Seaport District class B rents in the high $30’s.
Rents declined in Cambridge, but Jones Lang LaSalle attributed this to dwindling top tier options.
Overall, the firm attributed the area’s improving fundamentals to strong job growth, particularly in the high-tech and life sciences industries, and recovery in long-time lagging sectors like financial, legal, and accounting services.