Leasing volume breaks records in the Raleigh-Durham market

In the final quarter of 2023, the Raleigh-Durham market experienced more than 1.6 million square feet (msf) of office space leased. That is a 63% increase year-over-year, and nearly 100,000 square feet (sf) greater than the previous leasing record made 14 years ago. The Q4 new record level is largely due to the sale leaseback by IBM of their 774,000-square-foot office space off Miami Boulevard in Research Triangle Park. Half of the top leases signed in the fourth quarter were in the RTP / RDU submarket. This is a positive trend, as the RTP / RDU submarket has the highest amount of square footage on the sublease market totaling 2.0 msf, or 56% of the sublease market. Subleases made up 20% of the top leases in Q4 2023 and quarter-over-quarter continue to decrease. Looking ahead, expect sublease inventory to level off as subleases put on the market during the pandemic begin to expire and users continue to take advantage of the lower rental rates and shorter terms associated with such space.

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