by Calculated Risk on 10/04/2007 10:35:00 AM

From the WSJ: Rent Growth Slows a Bit In Sluggish Office Market

... the three-and-a-half year old office recovery is still under way, if showing signs of weakness. The vacancy rate hit its lowest level in six years, dropping to 12.5% in the third quarter from 12.7% in the second quarter, though the pace of absorption -- the change in the total amount of space leased nationwide -- slowed. Absorption totaled 14.8 million square feet in the third quarter compared to 17.3 million in the second.

"There is a slowdown," said Barry M. Gosin, chief executive of Newmark Knight Frank, a New York-based commercial real-estate services firm.

For my area - Orange County, CA - Jon Lansner of the O.C. Register notes: O.C. office vacancies soar

Third-quarter data from commercial real estate brokers show that renting O.C. office space has gotten suddenly easier. Why? New buildings and shuttered mortgage makers add to supply. As a result, the countywide vacancy rate ... rose to 10.9% in the last quarter vs. an average of 7.1% a year ago.