The Rent Adjustment Process and the Structural Vacancy Rate in the Commercial Real Estate Market

Abstract

Existing studies of the office-rent adjustment process employ empirical model specifications that assume an intertemporally constant structural vacancy rate. Such specifications, however, contradict prevailing theoretical definitions of the latter which point towards its intertemporal variability. Against this background, this study extends the traditional rent adjustment specifications to account for an intertemporal variable structural vacancy rate. The empirical results suggest that the extended model may be more appropriate than the traditional one in explaining office rent changes during the period 1980-1988. They also suggest that the structural vacancy rate may indeed vary both through time and across markets.