by Calculated Risk on 11/07/2008 01:38:00 PM

From CrainsNewYorkBusiness.com: Report: Metro area vacancy rate to hit 17.6% (hat tip Brian)

In the next year, commercial vacancies for the New York metropolitan area will surge to 17.6%, up from today’s 12% rate, according to a revised forecast issued Monday by Property & Portfolio Research Inc.
...
“Our expectations changed, considering the events of the last few months, which are pretty much unprecedented,” said Andy Joynt, a real estate economist at the firm. “It’s a pretty severe downturn that we’re expecting.”

This forecast is for all commercial property, and not just Class-A office space.

Just this week, Mayor Bloomberg's office projected Class-A vacancies to rise sharply:

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the actual and projected (by the NYC OMB) rents and office vacancy rate for NYC Class A buildings.

The vacancy rate is expected to rise from about 7.5% to 13%.

All those layoffs on Wall Street are adding up.