CBRE: Long Island Office Market Remains Solid Throughout COVID-19 Pandemic

According to CBRE’s Q2 2020 office market report, the Long Island commercial office market remained unchanged quarter-over-quarter, showing strong fundamentals and stability despite an ongoing decrease in leasing activity due to the COVID-related forces.

Leading up to the pandemic, Long Island’s office market fundamentals were robust with availability trending downward and average asking rents reaching record highs at $28.05 per sq. ft., putting the market in an overall healthy position. Year-to-date net absorption totaled 283,000 sq. ft., due to a strong first quarter. At the close of the second quarter, the overall availability rate remained unchanged from the previous quarter at 10.6% despite uncertainties brought on by COVID-19. The overall average asking rent increased by 2% to $28.05 per sq. ft. since Q2 2019.

“Office leasing on Long Island is picking up as we begin to emerge from the current health crisis with several new leases and significant renewals,” said Tricia Shay, Senior Managing Director of CBRE’s Melville office. “We are cautiously optimistic this momentum will continue in the latter half of 2020.”

Availability within Class A office space continued its downward trend, decreasing 120 bps year-over-year to 9.7%, from 10.9% in Q2 2019. Class B space availability increased from 10.9% in Q2 2019 to 11.3% in Q2 2020.