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Office leasing hits 127.3M SF in first half 2026
The quarter also saw the biggest vacancy drop since 2015, with office vacancy down 30 basis points to 18.3% in Q2.
Office leasing activity in the United States totaled 127.3 million square feet in the first half of 2026, the strongest start to a year since 2019, according to a Savills report cited by Bisnow. The second quarter alone delivered 66.1 million square feet, 9.1% above the quarterly average from 2017 through 2019.
Bisnow reports that Savills linked the strong leasing to demand from artificial intelligence companies that fell away during the pandemic. The biggest deal of the quarter was Palo Alto Networks, which signed a 941,000 square foot renewal in Santa Clara, California, followed by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, which relocated to Manhattan with a 916,000 square foot deal.
CBRE data cited by Bisnow showed office vacancy fell by 30 basis points in Q2 to 18.3%, the largest quarterly decline since 2015. Top-tier space saw a larger drop, with vacancy down 40 basis points to 12.3%.
Rent growth also accelerated, with average asking rent rising 2.6% year over year to $37.58 per square foot in Q2, the fastest pace in six years and above the 30-year average, Bisnow reported. Even with Q2 office demand slipping to $18.7 billion from $20.3 billion in Q1, Savills said first-half investment volume was up 15% year over year, and CBRE projects full-year office investment volume to rise 16% in 2026.