Since March 12, 2020 (the start of COVID-19 restrictions in the U.S.) we have seen the sublease inventory continue a steady increase of new space on the Atlanta market. For historical perspective, after the Great Recession that began in 2008, we reached a sublease inventory peak of 5.7 million SF in Q2 2009. We recently surpassed that number with 6.1 million SF of sublease space available at the end of March 2021, the highest sublease inventory we’ve tracked since the start of the pandemic. In January 2021, inventory decreased for the first time since March 2020.
The numbers below show sublease inventory staying at 5.9 million SF for May. 22 new subleases were added last month, with the total number of subleases on the market lowering significantly to 529. Since April 2020, rental rates have decreased from $23.37/SF to $22.55/SF. The $0.29 increase that took place from March 2021 to April 2021 has remained fairly steady into May 2021.
