Manhattan Market Made Marked Improvement: Newmark Grubb Knight Frank

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The Manhattan office market saw the largest monthly absorption total of square footage since July 2011, with 721,066 square feet in the month of May, according to a report from Newmark (NMRK) Grubb Knight Frank. 

newmarkkf 190x300 Manhattan Market Made Marked Improvement: Newmark Grubb Knight FrankThe availability rate also slightly improved, going down to 12.6 percent from 12.7 percent in April –marking the lowest availability rate since July 2011.

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The vacancy rate improved to 7.4 percent, the lowest level the market has seen since August 2009.

While the average asking rent dropped to $51.79-a-square-foot from $52.03-a-square-foot in April. Despite the drop, the average asking rent remained well above the $46.82-a-square-foot reported in May 2011.

As for the rest of Manhattan:

Midtown 

-The Midtown office market saw 524,090 square feet of positive absorption –a welcome change from the four consecutive months of negative absorption it saw in 2012. The year-to-date net total still is cringe-worthy, at a negative 375,668 square feet.

-Average asking rents were $63.72-a-square-foot, a 10.6 percent increase from the $57.60-a-square-foot a year ago.

-Availability rate improved to 13.0 percent from 13.2 percent in April. It was 12.9 percent a year ago.

-The Grand Central district improved as well, with 251,801 square feet of positive net absorption.

 

Midtown South 

-In surprising news, the Midtown South submarket saw 33,075 square feet of negative absorption. The year-to-date net absorption number remained strong, at a total of 821,514 square feet.
-Availability rate rose to 10.0 percent, but is still below the 10.5 percent vacancy rate from May 2011.
-Average asking rents in the submarket grew to $40.26-a-square-foot from $39.71-a-square-foot in April.
-The vacancy rate ended at 5.7 percent, still the lowest in the city.

 

Downtown 

-The submarket experienced 230,051 square feet of positive absorption in the month of May, bringing the year-to-date net total to 1.3 million square feet.
-Availability rate improved slightly, going to 15.8 percent from 15.9 percent. It’s still at the lowest level since May 2011.
-The average asking rent dropped to $40.51-a-square-foot from $41.10-a-square-foot. It it still 12.8 percent higher than the $35.92-a-square-foot average asking rent from a year ago.

drosen@observer.com