The Office Market Is Finally Posting Numbers That Look Like 2019

For the first time since the pandemic upended the office sector, the leasing data no longer needs an asterisk. According to Savills’ newly released State of the U.S. Office Market report, occupiers leased 127.3 million square feet of office space in the first half of 2026, the strongest first-half total since 2019 and 13 percent ahead of last year. The second quarter alone accounted for 66.1 million square feet, which Savills notes was “the strongest quarter on record since Q2 2019.” Perhaps more telling, that figure ran about 9 percent above the average quarterly pace set between 2017 and 2019, meaning demand is not just recovering toward pre-pandemic norms, it is exceeding them...