The first quarter of 2002 saw furth...

The first quarter of 2002 saw further increases in metropolitan office vacancies from beginning to end most of the U.S., according to the mostly recent survey by commercial brokerage and research firm CB Richard Ellis, sees Angeles. Following an increase of 11% between the third and fourth quarters of last year, the national average office vacancy rate increased another 1% during the first quarter of this year to 142% The national average office vacancy rate has increased according to more than 5% over the past 12 month and is not likely to peak until this fall.

First-quarter 2002 downtown office