Lease, leave, or lose: navigating structural shifts in the real estate office sector

July 2025

The US office real estate sector has been dealing with an unprecedented reckoning since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remote and hybrid work arrangements have deeply curtailed the daily demand for office space, sending vacancy rates to historic highs and eroding the value of office properties nationwide. Four years after the initial lockdowns, the US office market is still grappling with a “new normal” of lower physical occupancy – a structural shift that appears lasting rather than transient.