"Real Estate Life sciences and tech sectors - especially in Cambridge - face steep challenges, with vacancies roughly 20% above 2019 levels. Office vacancies in Greater Boston finally eased in the second half of 2025, but the market's recovery remains an uphill climb. A new report from Colliers shows the region's office vacancy rate sitting at 23.9% - roughly 10 percentage points above Boston's historical average and 16 points higher than its lowest level before the pandemic."
"Cambridge, once one of the region's strongest office markets for life sciences and tech, now faces the steepest vacancy spike. Before COVID, vacancies hovered around 5%. Today, they've jumped to 25% - "one of the widest swings we've seen in the entire market this cycle," said Myers. With both the life sciences and tech sectors slowing, Cambridge has lost the two engines that typically drive its growth."
The Greater Boston office market remains significantly oversupplied, with vacancy and availability well above historical norms. The office vacancy rate is about 23.9%, roughly 10 percentage points above Boston's historical average and 16 points above the pre-pandemic low. Availability including vacant and sublease space measured 22.2%, down modestly from 24.4% a year earlier. Overall vacancy stabilized near 18.2% in late 2025. New leasing activity increased more than 72% year-over-year in 2025, but recovery is uneven. Cambridge experienced the steepest spike, rising from about 5% pre-COVID to roughly 25% as life‑sciences and tech demand slows.
Read at Boston.com
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