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Preliminary first-quarter 2026 figures from CoStar Group indicate that U.S. office leasing has moved beyond pre-pandemic benchmarks, marking a notable shift in national office demand. CoStar estimates that tenants committed to roughly 120 million square feet of new office leases in Q1 2026, giving the market its most active quarter since mid-2018.
CoStar reports that first-quarter leasing volume rose approximately 25% from the same period a year earlier. It also marks the first time in the current decade that quarterly leasing volume surpassed the average level recorded between 2015 and 2019, a period often used as a reference for pre-pandemic norms in the office sector.
Phil Mobley, national director of office analytics at CoStar Group, described the data as evidence of continuing momentum in the broader office recovery. At the same time, he emphasized that the underlying structure of this activity aligns with patterns that have taken shape since the onset of the pandemic. According to CoStar, overall volume in the quarter was propelled more by a high number of individual leases than by a rebound in very large transactions.
Mobley noted that the number of lease transactions completed in Q1 2026 was the highest observed in the past decade. This suggests a leasing environment characterized by many occupiers making space decisions, even if those decisions are not dominated by unusually large single commitments. The volume of deals, rather than deal size, was the defining feature of the quarter.
Even so, the quarter did include some sizable transactions. One example highlighted by CoStar is JPMorgan Chase’s lease at Hines’ South Station Tower in Boston, where the financial institution committed to approximately 250,000 square feet of office space. The transaction underscores that large corporate users remain active in select locations and projects, even as the broader leasing landscape is driven by a wider base of tenants.
Together, these first-quarter results point to an office leasing market that is generating more activity than in recent years, with recovery marked by a broad increase in tenant commitments across the country rather than a simple resurgence of a few marquee mega-deals.
The post U.S. Office Leasing Surges in Q1 2026, Exceeding Pre-Pandemic Levels appeared first on CRE Market Beat.
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