Vacancy rates continued to rise across Cy-Fair's office and industrial sectors in October, and industrial vacancy rates are now up by about 5% from this time last year.

Industrial vacancy was at about 15.1% as of Oct. 21, according to data provided by Caldwell Cos. to Community Impact Newspaper, as compared to 9.9% in the fourth quarter of 2019. Office vacancy rates have increased by about 2.5% over that time. The increase in industrial vacancy over the past year took place at the same time the average rental rate has increased. The average triple net direct rent per square foot is up by about $1.30 from the fourth quarter of 2019. The average retail rent per square foot has also risen more recently—it hit $23.71 as of Oct. 21, up from $22.66 in the second quarter of this year. The industrial sector has seen by far the most construction in the Cy-Fair area over this past year, as about 3.9 million new square feet of space was added. Meanwhile, no new office space has been added to the market of this past year. As of Oct. 21, another 171,850 square feet of retail space was under construction in Cy-Fair across nine new buildings.