In the largely rural Upper Bucks County, vacancies remain close to 6.5 percent. That’s well under the national average, and the area did not experience a radical softening in demand because of the coronavirus. 

Lower Bucks County, home to more office inventory, saw an overhead vacancy rate of about 13 percent, slightly higher than the national average. But that performance doesn’t indicate pandemic-related softness. 

The sea change of work-from-home provisions and its effect on commercial real estate has caused a sharp rise in available space elsewhere in the state and the nation. But BCEDC analyses show that Bucks County has bucked that trend. Availability rates in both Upper and Lower Bucks remain close to the market’s vacancy rate, indicating that there has not been a surge in sublet offerings. 

Lower Bucks may benefit from its cache of available floorspace, especially as the local businesses return to onsite work. Tenants may show willingness to pay more rent while occupying less space. And space might also become attractive to outside tenants. Rents in Lower Bucks County are substantially cheaper than rates in the nearby Trenton and Philadelphia markets. 

More on local CRE inventory is available from the BCDC.