According to CBRE Group, Inc., vacant space in the U.S. office market held steady during the third quarter of 2016 at 13.1 percent. The national office vacancy rate remained at the lowest level since 2008, with a 30 basis points (bps) decline over the past year.

The office market is being helped by steady demand for space and limited new construction. "Firms are adding space, but at a more modest pace than in recent years, reflecting slower overall job creation," said Jeffrey Havsy, Americas' chief economist for CBRE. "With supply and demand relatively in balance, vacancy has plateaued for the moment, but the office market should remain healthy as new construction deliveries slow over the next 6-8 quarters."

Continuing a recent pattern, the suburbs outperformed downtowns, with vacancy falling 10 bps, to 14.3 percent in the suburbs, but increasing 20 bps, to 10.7 percent in downtowns. After lagging downtowns for much of the recovery, the suburbs have now performed better than downtowns for four straight quarters.

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