Overview:
The negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to be felt deeply in the Portland metro office market. Demand for office space has continued to drop as a large segment of the workforce has shifted to a remote work model. Despite the drop in demand, year-over-year rent growth has returned with gains of 2.6%, while the national office rent gains are around 0.9%.
Tech and apparel sector leases make up a majority of the absorption activity in the metro area, and these tenants typically pay premiums to secure space, which factors into the recent gains.