Oklahoma City office vacancy increasing
Journal Record
December 16th, 2008

Last week I blogged about how if the decline in oil prices is prolonged, it will likely cause turmoil among numerous small to mid-sized energy firms in the metro area causing downsizing and closings, which in turn would lead to an increase in vacancy. Now, it appears the decline in oil prices may already be having an affect on Oklahoma City’s office market.

While vacancy fell to its lowest level in well over a decade to 15 percent during the second quarter of 2008, REIS is reporting that vacancy jumped back up to 15.9 percent during the third quarter. Furthermore, early indicators and research point to the possibility that year-end vacancy will be slightly over 16 percent.

The good news is compared to the high vacancy the market experienced just four years ago, 16 percent still represents a healthy vacancy for the market. In 2003 and 2004, vacancy shot up to nearly 24 percent; therefore, even if vacancy does continue to slightly increase in 2009, the market should retain the strength it has gained since the end of 2004.