CoStar data shows office leasing activity rose 5% in 2025; Boston ranked as top growth market

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--U.S. office leasing activity rose 5% year over year, with Boston reporting the highest growth in the metric, according to year-end data from CoStar, the leading global provider of online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics in the property markets.

Office tenants signed for an estimated 410 million square feet of space in 2025 – an increase from 2024, when leasing volume fell to its lowest level in 15 years (excluding 2020).

Additionally, the year closed with three consecutive quarters of volume exceeding 100 million square feet – a first since the opening three quarters of 2022.

These figures reflect new office leases executed during 2025, including an estimate of those executed during the year but not yet recorded by CoStar research. Renewal leases are not included.

“Despite the rebound in 2025, leasing activity has yet to return to the level seen in the late 2010s,” said Phil Mobley, national director of office analytics at CoStar Group. “While transaction activity is near its all-time high, with approximately 30,000 lease deals last year, the average lease size was roughly 3,500 square feet – more than 15% smaller than the five-year pre-pandemic average.”

At the market level, Boston saw the largest year-over-year growth in leasing activity (+52%), which lifted annual volume to its pre-pandemic five-year average. San Jose and San Francisco followed with a 40% gain in the metric, likely driven largely by demand from AI firms.

Markets with declines in leasing activity include Seattle, Atlanta, Houston and Philadelphia.

The full analysis can be found here.

For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit costargroup.com.

About CoStar Group

CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP) is a global leader in commercial real estate information, analytics, online marketplaces, and 3D digital twin technology. Founded in 1986, CoStar Group is dedicated to digitizing the world’s real estate, empowering all people to discover properties, insights, and connections that improve their businesses and lives.

CoStar Group’s major brands include CoStar, a leading global provider of commercial real estate data, analytics, and news; LoopNet, the most trafficked commercial real estate marketplace; Apartments.com, the leading platform for apartment rentals; and Homes.com, the fastest-growing residential real estate marketplace. CoStar Group’s industry-leading brands also include Matterport, a leading spatial data company whose platform turns buildings into data to make every space more valuable and accessible, STR, a global leader in hospitality data and benchmarking, Ten-X, an online platform for commercial real estate auctions and negotiated bids and OnTheMarket, a leading residential property portal in the United Kingdom.

CoStar Group’s websites attracted over 141 million average monthly unique visitors in the third quarter of 2025, serving clients around the world. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, CoStar Group is committed to transforming the real estate industry through innovative technology and comprehensive market intelligence. From time to time, we plan to utilize our corporate website as a channel of distribution for material company information. For more information, visit CoStarGroup.com.