Though Texas one of the first states in the nation to open its office doors to workers after the pandemic, it seems like a lot of people in the Lone Star State just prefer working at home.
A new study found that Houston, Dallas, and Austin rank at the top of the list of the 50 largest metros in the country of vacant office markets.
The Texas cities ranked first, second, and third on the list. In fact, among all cities, only Tulsa, Oklahoma, Charleston, South Carolina, and Dayton, Ohio, which are all much smaller, were more vacant.
Per Chron.com, 26.3% of Houston’s offices are vacant, Dallas, is at 25.3% vacancy, and Austin is 25.2% vacant. The national office vacancy rate is 19.6%.
According to the report from Bisnow, Texas is struggling with a number of factors getting workers back into the office:
As hybrid work becomes the new normal, many companies have been looking to downsize and large corporations have been fickle in making relocation decisions. Many companies want newer buildings with modern amenities and in places like Austin—where the pre-pandemic tech boom rippled through the city—it's just a problem of too much supply.
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