Office demand diverged sharply across major U.S markets in the second quarter of 2025, with some cities experiencing strong annual gains while others witnessed a quarter-over-quarter cooling, according to the latest VTS Office Demand Index Demand (VODI) report. Nationally, office demand was up just over 11% percent year-over-year as of June 30, despite it remaining relatively flat quarterly.
Chicago and San Francisco were the standouts, with Chicago up 60% Y-O-Y and up 35% quarter-over-quarter, while San Francisco demand rose 27% Y-O-Y and 40% from Q1. Seattle and New York both saw annual gains of roughly 18% but significant quarterly divergence, with Seattle down 38% and New York up 1%.
Conversely, Washington, DC, Los Angeles and Boston all experienced a striking reversal of post-pandemic recovery trends. The District saw the sharpest annual decline at 26%, while Boston had its worst post-pandemic quarter for demand, declining 46% from Q1.
“The last quarter presented a number of macroeconomic challenges to the office market, and despite that, demand among tenants remained relatively persistent, with national office demand posting double-digit annual gains,” said Nick Romito, CEO of VTS. “There’s a number of major economic, political, and innovation forces currently at play which have meaningful impacts on office demand – both in terms of headwinds and greenshoots. I think we’ll continue to see somewhat of a mixed bag with regards to office demand in at least the near term.”
#Major #U.S #Office #Markets #Wide #Disparities #Demand