The Worcester office vacancy rate rose in the fourth quarter to 11.4 percent from 10.1 percent, according to the Boston offices of real estate firm Colliers International.
The quarter-to-quarter change corresponded with a 37,000 square-foot negative absorption rate, meaning that much space is now vacant that wasn’t before, according to Colliers.
Still, Worcester’s office market maintains a better rate than the overall suburban Boston market, which had a vacancy rate of 16.6 percent for the quarter, Colliers reported on Dec. 21.
Colliers samples roughly 2.8 million square feet of office space in Worcester.
The MetroWest office market, as measured by Colliers, continues to struggle with higher vacancy rates.
The firm’s 495 West market — Framingham, Hopkinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Maynard, Milford, Natick, Northborough, Southborough and Westborough — saw its vacancy rate fall slightly, from 19.8 percent to 19.5 percent. The region’s absorption rate was a negative 67,000 square feet.
