Office net effective rents rose 8.8% YoY in CompStak’s index, with wide metro differences

GlobeSt reported that CompStak’s September update to the Columbia CompStak Rent Index shows year-over-year gains in office, retail and industrial rents.

CompStak’s September Columbia CompStak Rent Index update showed trailing-year increases in constant-quality net effective rents across office, retail and industrial. CompStak said retail’s decline accelerated over the last one, three and six months. GlobeSt added that industrial rents may be settling into a steadier base after a cooling stretch.

That difference is important because the index measures constant-quality net effective rents, not asking rents or basic market averages. GlobeSt said the CCRI aims to separate true rent movement by accounting for shifts in the quality mix of leased space and factoring in concessions, reflecting what owners and lenders are actually underwriting.

What the index says about office: 8.8% up, but momentum is the question

Office delivered the biggest nationwide increase among the three sectors. CompStak data cited by GlobeSt shows constant-quality net effective rents rising 8.8% over the 12 months through July. The headline is positive: trailing-year growth is real, and it is sizable.

GlobeSt reported that office posted an 8.8% national gain in the year through July, and that the index also shows office growth beginning to lose speed.

CompStak’s metro tiering makes the “one national office market” habit hard to defend. GlobeSt reported CompStak classifies office MSAs as “high tier” above 6.22% year-over-year growth and “low tier” below -0.62%. Of 39 office MSAs, 22 were positive on trailing-year growth, with 14 in the high-growth group, 15 in the low-tier group and 10 in the middle. San Francisco, Denver and Cincinnati were among the low-growth markets, GlobeSt reported.

Retail: year-over-year can look fine while the last six months deteriorate

Retail points the other way. GlobeSt reported that CompStak said the retail decline accelerated over the last one, three and six months, even as the sector remained positive over longer periods.

CompStak also highlighted how uneven retail performance can be from market to market. GlobeSt reported that retail’s middle quarter-over-quarter tercile runs from a 6.14% drop to a 7.66% gain, creating a 13.8-percentage-point gap that exceeds office (5.51 points) and industrial (7.16 points). GlobeSt reported that CompStak tied some of that spread to thin-market coverage noise.

GlobeSt reported that retail’s market-level figures call for restraint in interpreting individual readings and that CompStak attributes part of the dispersion to thin-market coverage noise.

GlobeSt: Industrial rents may be settling into a steadier base after cooling.

According to GlobeSt’s summary of CompStak’s September update, industrial rents may be settling into a steadier base after a cooling period.

CompStak’s index tracks constant-quality net effective rents and incorporates concessions, according to GlobeSt. GlobeSt also noted that free rent and tenant-improvement packages can distort headline pricing, which can make the gap between asking rents and net effective performance consequential.

Commercial Property Executive reported that Integra Realty Resources’ 2025 midyear report described an ongoing bifurcation in asset performance and a flight to quality, with investors and occupiers prioritizing high-performing assets. Separately, GlobeSt reported that CompStak’s office data show wide differences across MSAs, with markets split across high-, middle- and low-tier growth groups.

Where this lands for facilities and CRE ops teams: stop benchmarking to asking rents

CBRE’s 2026 U.S. Real Estate Market Outlook pointed to increased leasing activity in office and retail in 2026, and said performance would vary sharply between newer prime buildings and older secondary ones, according to Facilities Dive. CBRE also argued that occupiers are prioritizing adaptable layouts and infrastructure readiness as workplace patterns and technology use evolve, Facilities Dive reported.

GlobeSt reported that the CCRI relies on constant-quality net effective rents, not asking rents, and it factors in concessions. It also said that when incentives and flight-to-quality leasing skew headline pricing, the spread between the asking-rent storyline and net effective results can matter.

GlobeSt reported that office growth has begun to lose speed in the more recent data even with an 8.8% year-over-year gain through July. GlobeSt also reported that CompStak classifies office MSAs into high, middle and low tiers using office-specific historical thresholds, reflecting a market that is not moving as a single national trade.