Office vacancies in the US surged to a 15-year high in the fourth quarter and rents fell the most on record as the deepest recession in more than half a century slashed demand for commercial space, according to Reis Inc.

The vacancy rate climbed to 17% from 14.5% a year earlier, the New York-based research company said. Effective rents, the amount tenants actually pay landlords, dropped 8.9%, the biggest year-over-year decline since Reis began tracking the data in 1980.

'Never before have landlords been under so much pressure to offer concessions to attract and retain tenants,' Victor Calanog, Reis’s research director, said in a statement. The office market won’t reach a bottom until businesses begin hiring, he said.

bloomberg.com