Northern Virginia Office Figures Q2 2026

The Northern Virginia office market continued to improve in the second quarter of 2026, posting 380,000 sq. ft. of positive net absorption, bringing the year-to-date total to 535,000 sq. ft. of occupancy gain. This marks the sixth positive quarter in the past seven, helping drive the vacancy rate down 50 basis points (bps) to 21.3%, its lowest level since 2021.

The current improvement in market fundamentals followed several years of sustained weakness. From 2021 to 2023 the market consistently posted large negative net absorption, pushing vacancy to a high of 23.5% in Q3 2024. However, since the start of 2025 the market has gained over one million sq. ft. of occupancy. This demand recovery coincided with a sharp contraction in new supply: the construction pipeline peaked at roughly 3.3 million sq. ft. in 2016 but is just 35,000 sq. ft. in Q2 2026, with no deliveries so far in 2026.

Leasing activity picked up in Q2 with over 3 million sq. ft. leased, significantly exceeding the recent historic average of 2.3 million sq. ft. Further, 14 transactions larger than 50,000 sq. ft. have been signed so far in 2026, which outpaces prior years.