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Analysis: Silicon Valley’s commercial real estate sales highest since 2015

Omar Pérez

TO GO WITH AFP STORY-TECHNOLOGY-US-IT BY HELENE LABRIET-GROSS Silicon Valley's capital city San Jose, California as seen in this aerial photo is undergoing an urban development revolution calculated to keep it as the thriving heart of a region renowned for technological innovation.The city is working to reverse a trend in which promising startups take root in suburbs and neighboring cities such as Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino -- the homes of Google, Yahoo and Apple respectively. Districts brimming with high-density housing are now blossoming near downtown office towers. There are 32,000 units in or near the city center and "enterprise incubation centers" have sprung up to nurture start-ups in the areas of software, bioscience, environment and market access. (Photo credit should read HELENE LABRIET-GROSS/AFP via Getty Images)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — A recent analysis reveals commercial real estate sales in Silicon Valley soared last quarter.

The latest analysis from Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Institute for Regional Studies, shows increased investment activity between July and September, drove commercial real estate sales volume up to an aggregate of $6.3 billion — the highest since 2015.

Joint Venture’s Quarterly Report “Silicon Valley Commercial Space” Q3 2021.

Overall, the report reveals vacancy rates continue to stay at “elevated levels,” slightly widening the gap from pre-pandemic levels.

Many projects that were slated for completion in late 2020 were delayed due to pandemic construction materials and labor shortages.

As a result of the pandemic, commercial leasing activity in 2020 was 57% of the prior year’s total (by square footage).

Despite all this, Silicon Valley continues to have the lowest vacancy rates of any major market across the U.S.

Commercial leases last quarter has already ecliped last year’s figures — according to the report, the number of lease transactions is pacing towards 2018 and 2019 leasing figures.

There were over 650 commercial lease transactions last quarter, compared to 480 in 2020 and 880 in 2019.