Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
First decline in vacancy since 2022; Construction at multiyear lows
Dallas – January 30, 2026 – Signs emerged in the fourth quarter of a nascent recovery of U.S. life sciences real estate, including the first decline in vacancy in nearly four years, a sharp slowdown in construction and resilient demand for lab space, according to a new report from CBRE.
The U.S. life sciences market has struggled for much of the past four years, with overbuilding and sluggish demand contributing to once-tight vacancy rates rising past 20% on average across the top 13 markets.
The fourth quarter may have brought an inflection point: A construction slowdown and recent gains in demand for space led to a 30-basis-point decline in vacancy to 23%, the first decline since the second quarter of 2022. Construction completions fell by 88% in the fourth quarter from the third, and in-progress construction sits at its lowest level since mid-2017.
Net absorption – a proxy for demand that measures the amount of space newly occupied against the amount of space vacated in a given quarter – registered a net gain in the fourth quarter. That marks the second straight quarter of positive net absorption after two negative quarters in the first half of last year.
“We’re seeing an increase in activity driven by multinationals continuing their trend of reshoring and consolidating,” said Matt Gardner, CBRE Americas Life Sciences Leader. “Meanwhile, resilience in hiring and fundraising activities in the life sciences industry suggests more positive absorption this year.”
The second half of last year was the strongest six-month period for venture capital funding of life sciences companies since 2022. The life sciences job market is mostly tepid overall, though a subsector – life sciences research & development – made gradual gains late last year.
CBRE’s national life sciences figures are averages of the largest 13 U.S. life sciences markets. Seven of those markets registered positive net absorption in the second quarter, led by San Francisco.
Top Life Sciences Markets: Select Q4 Stats
To read the full report, click here.
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2024 revenue). The company has more than 140,000 employees (including Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves a diverse range of clients with an integrated suite of services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
Contact:
Kris Hudson
+ 1 214 863 3650
kris.hudson@cbre.com
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