A silver lining to the troubled office market?
Who says there aren’t killer opportunities during downturns, even one as bad as this one is shaping up to be?
These are the times that fortunes are made, when bargain hunters who managed to stockpile cash will swoop in to buy at deep discounts office buildings others foolishly overpaid for during the boom.
The vast ocean of foreclosed homes across the country looks like it is finally getting some company, with the number of distressed office buildings soaring across the country.
The number of office buildings that are 40 percent leased or less soared by 8.6 percent over the past year, according to a new report by the CoStar Group.
There are now nearly 20,000 distressed office buildings in the nation’s 50 largest office markets.
Boston is no exception, seeing a 2.7 percent increase in troubled office properties over the past year. Currently 4.7 percent of the Hub’s office market has fallen into the distressed category, the report finds.
Those numbers are likely to rise here in the Hub – just watch as the Hancock foreclosure drama plays out.
In the meantime, there are probably even better buying opportunities in hard-hit Sunbelt cities, where the number of distressed office buildings is now topping 10 percent.