At a glance
- Connect CRE first reported the split between CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield and Newmark.
- Cushman & Wakefield put third-quarter vacancy at 23.9%, CBRE at 23.4% and Newmark at 27%, with the firms using different inventories and market lists.
- The falling rent line carries more weight for allocators than the vacancy disagreement because a shrinking, mostly build-to-suit pipeline limits speculative new competition for tenants while in-place leases still mark toward lower asking rents.
Three brokerage reports on the U.S. lab market disagree on third-quarter vacancy, though all three found leasing picked up and construction slowed. Connect CRE first reported the split between CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield and Newmark.
Cushman & Wakefield put third-quarter vacancy at 23.9%, CBRE at 23.4% and Newmark at 27%, with the firms using different inventories and market lists. Cushman's rate fell 20 basis points from the second quarter, the first quarterly decline in four years, and the firm said vacancy "has likely peaked." CBRE's rate fell 10 bps, its second quarterly decline since late 2022, but was still 60 bps above a year earlier. Newmark's all-markets rate rose from 26.5%, with most of the markets it tracks showing higher vacancy.
The falling rent line carries more weight for allocators than the vacancy disagreement because a shrinking, mostly build-to-suit pipeline limits speculative new competition for tenants while in-place leases still mark toward lower asking rents. Cushman & Wakefield counted about 5.2 million square feet under construction, down 40% year over year, and 73% of it build-to-suit. CBRE said 3 million square feet was delivered over the past year, the lowest annual total since 2017. Cushman & Wakefield put the national average rent at $62.85 per square foot, down 5.6%, and CBRE reported a 7.2% annual decline in asking rents.
CBRE counted 569,257 square feet of positive net absorption after two negative quarters and 2.7 million square feet of leasing, up 12.7% year over year. It said the pace is "not enough to rapidly reduce available space." Cushman & Wakefield reported roughly 484,000 square feet of absorption and an 11% quarter-over-quarter leasing gain. Newmark said active tenant requirements in Boston, the Bay Area, San Diego and Seattle rose 62.6% from their second-quarter 2025 lows, with AI-related demand helping the Bay Area to about 484,000 square feet of year-to-date absorption, while Denver-Boulder, Philadelphia and San Diego keep losing occupancy.
Reported by the Sectors desk from Connect CRE. Published . Corrections