Houston, Oklahoma City Office Markets Feel the Fallout from Oil Price Declines
September 16, 2016 | by Diana Bell | National Real Estate Investor
Over the course of the past year, as oil prices hovered near the $30.00 per barrel mark, cities that rely on the energy sector for their economies, including Houston, Dallas, Denver and Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Okla., experienced office vacancies that spiked to double digits. As oil prices continue to fluctuate, some of these markets are slowly recovering, buoyed by growth in other industries. Others, however, face choppier conditions in the short to medium term.
In Texas, Houston’s office sector is facing the biggest challenge due to low energy prices, says Doug Little, senior managing director at Houston-based real estate brokerage firm Transwestern.
“Austin, Dallas and San Antonio have been negligibly affected,” he notes. “Austin is doing very well and San Antonio, surprisingly, has been resilient.”
