New York Market Overview
- Total Manhattan Class A Office vacancies stayed at 7.6 % vacant
- Total New York City Office vacancy decreased from 7.2 % vacant to 7.1 % vacant
The availability rate for Manhattan office space hit its highest level in 13 years last month. The amount of office space available for rent reached 13.4 percent in April, up from 12.9 percent a month earlier, and average asking rents fell 2.5 percent to $48.12 per square foot. The last time the availability rate was this high was in 1996. The average asking rent for all available retail space in Manhattan fell 11 percent between fall 2008 and spring 2009, the first meaningful decline since September 11, 2001. Though some areas had rent increases. Ground-floor average asking rents in Times Square increased 71 percent between Spring 2009 and the same time last year. The average asking rent in the area -- on Broadway and Seventh Avenue, between 42nd and 47th streets -- where Forever 21 and American Eagle are opening, reached $1,381 per square foot this Spring, up from $809 during the same time last year. The median asking rent jumped 79 percent, to $1,450 a foot from $809.