The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) has recently released its latest analysis of Placer.ai location data for 350 Manhattan office buildings. According to the report, visitation rates in these properties are steadily recovering with an average rate of 74% in March 2024 and a slight increase to 75% in April. This marks a significant improvement from February’s rate of 66%, and March’s rate of 70% back in the year before.
Among all classes, Class A+ properties have shown the highest visitation rates at around 82% and further increasing to reach as high as89%. Meanwhile, Class A/A- buildings recorded rates at around70%-72%, while Class B/C maintained steady levels at72%. In terms of location, Midtown saw an increase from65%in Februaryto78 %in Aprilwhile Downtown experienced a more significant jump from54 %to66 %. These numbers have remained consistent throughout both months.
Keith DeCoster,directorof Market Dataand Policyat REBNY,stated that “Manhattan’s office market has seen its strongest activity since last Fall overthe past two months.” He also noted that this trend is evident through incremental increases towards pre-pandemic levels particularly among high-quality properties.
This analysis was conducted using geo-fenced data collectedfroma representative sampleofofficebuildings completed before2019. The results show promising signs for Manhattan’s commercial real estate marketas it continues on its path towards recovery post-pandemic.
