Austin commercial by the numbers
Where the market
stood in Q3 2026.
Vacancy, rent, absorption, new construction and cap rates for Austin's four main commercial property types, from the latest public quarterly reports, with a plain read on what each means for tenants, owner-users and investors.
Office
22.8%
total vacancy, Q3 2026
- Asking rent, all classes
- $44.72 /SF/yrfull service: operating costs and taxes included in the rent
- Asking rent, Class A / Class B
- $53.94 / $36.98 /SF/yrfull service
- Asking rent change, year over year
- −1.2%
- Delivered vs. absorbed, Q3
- 730,000 SF vs. 309,410 SFnew space finished vs. net space newly occupied
- Under construction
- 220,707 SFsmallest pipeline in a decade
- Cap rate, closed sales
- 5.98% to 6.10%middle 40% of 27 Austin office sales, H1 2026, Avison Young
What it means
Tenants have leverage. With this much empty space, there is room to negotiate rent, free months and build-out money.
Almost nothing new is being built, so owners of good space face less new competition once this wave leases up.
Industrial
15.4%
total vacancy, Q3 2026
- Asking rent, all space
- $14.97 /SF/yrNNN: tenant pays taxes, insurance and upkeep on top
- Asking rent change, year over year
- +3.2%
- Delivered vs. absorbed, Q3
- about 2.2M SF vs. 2.0M SF
- Under construction
- 12.2M SF
- Cap rate, closed sales
- 6.15% to 6.22%middle 40% of 52 Austin industrial sales, H1 2026, Avison Young
- Cap rate, market average
- 7.57%CoStar data, Q3 2026, Matthews
What it means
Demand is real, with a 29th straight quarter of positive absorption, but new space is still arriving as fast as it fills. Tenants and owner-users have choices.
Investors should underwrite lease-up time on newer buildings, not assume they fill on delivery.
Retail
3.7%
total vacancy, Q3 2026
- Asking rent, average
- $26.87 /SF/yrNNN: tenant pays taxes, insurance and upkeep on top
- Asking rent change, year over year
- +2.9%from $26.12 in Q3 2025
- Delivered vs. absorbed, Q3
- 1.31M SF vs. 1.13M SF
- Under construction
- 3.1M SF
- Cap rate, closed sales
- 6.00% to 7.01%middle 40% of 32 Austin retail sales, H1 2026, Avison Young
- Cap rate, market average
- 6.53%CoStar data, Q3 2026, Matthews
What it means
Still the tightest sector. Good storefronts lease fast, so tenants should start early and expect less give on rent.
For investors, low vacancy supports the income. Tenant credit and lease terms decide the value.
Multifamily
9.0%
stabilized vacancy, Q3 2026
- Effective rent per SF
- $1.60 /SF/monthafter concessions, average across all unit sizes
- Effective rent per unit
- $1,415 /monthsame basis, all unit sizes averaged, so studios and 3BRs are mixed together
- Effective rent change, year over year
- −1.9%smallest decline since Q2 2023
- Concessions
- 57.4% of propertiesadvertising at least one month free, City of Austin, September 2026, Apartment List
- Delivered vs. absorbed, Q3
- 5,245 vs. 6,585 units
- Under construction
- 13,543 unitsdown 32% year over year
- Vacancy by class
- A 13.0% / B 7.0% / C 10.0%stabilized, Q2 2026, Northmarq
- Cap rate, closed sales
- 4.87% to 5.62%middle 40% of 32 Austin apartment sales, H1 2026, Avison Young
- Cap rate, market average
- 5.74%CoStar data, Q3 2026, Matthews
What it means
Renters are filling units faster than new ones open, and the pipeline is shrinking.
More than half of Austin properties still advertise a free month or more. Underwrite rent per square foot after concessions, not the asking number.
How to read these. Asking rent is the advertised rate. Effective rent is what tenants pay after free months and other concessions. Full service office rent includes operating costs and taxes; NNN rent does not, so the tenant pays those on top. Office, industrial and retail rents are per square foot per year; apartment rents are per month. Cap rate is a year of net operating income divided by price. We show two views: the middle 40% of actual Austin sales closed in the first half of 2026 (Avison Young, U.S. Investment Sales Report, H1 2026, Austin spotlight (page 38)), which reflects the buildings that traded, often the better ones, and a market-wide average from CoStar data (Matthews, Q3 2026), which runs higher. Sales samples are small, so read both as a range, not a price for any property.
Sources, all opened November 2, 2026: Office, Newmark, Austin Office Market Report, 3Q 2026. Industrial, Newmark, Austin Industrial Market Report, 3Q 2026. Retail, Partners Real Estate, Austin Retail Quarterly Market Report, Q3 2026. Multifamily, Cushman & Wakefield, Austin Multifamily MarketBeat, Q3 2026. Also Matthews, Austin Multifamily Market Report, Q3 2026, Apartment List, Concession Rates, September 2026 and Northmarq, Austin Multifamily Market Insights, Q2 2026. Each firm draws the Austin market a little differently, so compare numbers within one source, not across them.
