SUPPLY
The market’s overall vacancy climbed to a new record-high of
33.9%, an increase of 710 basis points (bps) year-over-year.
Despite increasing by a magnitude in tandem with the overall
market, vacancy in East Cambridge remained significantly tighter
at 19.9%.
Boston remains home to one of the highest concentrations of
life science development in the nation as 1.6 msf of speculative
product is still underway. With 89.8% of this space still
uncommitted, the delivery of these assets will exert further
upward pressure on vacancy through the remainder of 2025.
DEMAND
An uptick in demand during the first half of 2025 illustrated
the resilience of Boston’s life science market despite continued
headwinds. At the midpoint of 2025, leasing volume has already
reached 95.6% of 2024’s year-end total.
Though Cambridge accounted for the bulk of YTD transaction
volume, driven primarily by two large Q1 deals, the 128 Belt led
the market in Q2, capturing 40.2% of all leasing activity
PRICING
After falling precipitously throughout 2024, the market’s overall
average asking rent was stable during the first half of 2025,
ticking up a modest $0.17 per square foot (psf) during the second
quarter to $82.51 psf.
Asking rents were unchanged or posted growth in nine of the
market’s 19 submarkets, while East Cambridge continued its reign
as the priciest, commanding a 15.9% premium over the market
average.
