Charleston Office Market Report

Tight fundamentals across market spectrum. Charleston’s demographic momentum continues into 2026 after the metro recorded its eighth consecutive year ranking among the top 10 major markets for population growth in 2025. This trend is supported, in part, by a steadily expanding business landscape that continues to attract smaller corporate relocations and office-using expansions. At the lower end of the market, vacant properties experienced longer lease-up times in 2024. This trend appeared to change direction in 2025, with Class B/C vacancy falling to around 5 percent — substantially lower than any other major market. Such limited availability should continue to keep this segment of the market competitive. Meanwhile, higher-quality assets have recorded accelerating net absorption since the start of 2024. Coupled with virtually no new speculative development over the past two years — a pattern expected to carry into 2026 — these dynamics suggest that vacancy will drop for a third consecutive year.