Austin Office Market Report

Austin places itself amid top markets in several metrics. Economic tailwinds like population growth and robust hiring activity, in conjunction with a rapidly expanding tech sector, make Austin an enticing destination for firms. These demand drivers will propel net absorption to reach nearly 5.4 million square feet in 2022, expected to be the third-highest total in the nation, behind only Boston and New York City. For context, those two Northeast metros have a combined vacant stock nearly nine times larger than Austin as of March, making the absorption measure more noteworthy as there is significantly less space to be absorbed. On that same note, a substantial share of the floor plans taken up this year will be at new builds, as Austin's 4.9 percent inventory expansion is bigger than any other major U.S. market, and it is not very close. No other metro is expected to have a supply addition exceeding 3.3 percent this year.