Puget Sound’s office and industrial markets are showing encouraging numbers, according to third quarter 2026 reports from CBRE. The office market posted its strongest occupancy gains in years, while the industrial sector is stabilizing after a development boom that brought considerable new space to the market.
Office occupancy growth in Seattle outpaced space givebacks for the fourth consecutive quarter, with Downtown Seattle posting its first quarter of positive net absorption since Q3 2021. Year-to-date absorption for the market reached 979,000 sf, with 80% of all leasing activity in Class A space, the highest share since at least 2021. After a drop in Q2 2026, the overall direct asking rate increased to $47.18/sf/mo full-service gross, continuing the market’s upward momentum since the low in Q3 2021.
On the industrial side, the region’s development pipeline fell 74% year-over-year, the lowest level in five years. About 70% of the remaining construction pipeline is already preleased, per CBRE, with aerospace and defense companies leading the quarter’s largest transactions. While net absorption was down 665,00 sf, leasing activity jumped 11.7% quarter-over-quarter to 4.9 msf, and availability dropped 10 bps to 13.4%. New supply reached its lowest level in years, with just 101,000 sf delivered and 1.5 msf currently under construction. Meanwhile, the overall direct average asking rate held steady at $1.15/sf mo NNN.
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