A new CBRE report ranks Atlanta the fifth fastest growing tech market with overall office rent growth of 12.6 percent between Q2 2017 and Q2 2019. The company’s annual Tech-30 report measures the tech industry’s impact on office rents in the 30 leading technology markets in the U.S. and Canada.

Atlanta is considered a growth leader along with Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Seattle and Boston. The market saw high-tech employment grow 13 percent during 2017 and 2018, and is one of only nine markets to see its job growth rate accelerate compared to 2015 and 2016. In addition, Atlanta remains an attractive location for tech talent from a housing-cost standpoint, where the average tech worker only spends 15.3 percent of their income on rent.

”Atlanta is in the unique position of being a market of choice for employers, employees and investors,” said Nicole Goldsmith, CBRE vice president. “As a mature, stable tech market, now competing in the same category as San Francisco, New York City and Chicago, Atlanta is a proven market for investors. In addition to the market’s overall stability, Atlanta offers high investment potential because of its attractiveness to occupiers, who flock to Atlanta for its relatively low office rents and high-tech labor pool.”

Office-rent growth has been strong for the Tech-30 in the past two years, with 10 markets posting double-digit percentage growth in average rents over this period, led by San Francisco. Overall, rents increased in 28 of the Tech-30 markets since 2017.

Top Tech-30 Markets For Two-Year Office Rent Growth Rate

CBRE’s report also examines rent gains, rent premiums and net absorption in submarkets that have emerged as tech hot spots within their cities. Among all submarkets measured in the report, Midtown Atlanta had the highest office rent growth, with an increase of 28.1 percent during the same timeframe. The second and third ranked submarkets are also in the Southeast, with Raleigh-Durham’s RTP/I-40 Corridor marking a 24.1 percent increase and Downtown Nashville showing a 19.4 percent increase. Net absorption in Midtown came in at 2.7 percent, compared to Atlanta’s overall net absorption of 1.6 percent from Q3 2017 to Q2 2019. Nationally leading tech submarkets registered an office-rent premium of 14 percent in comparison with the average in their respective cities.

“The North American tech industry has diversified its economic base as it has grown, expanding its presence in many Tech-30 markets,” said Colin Yasukochi, Executive Director for research for CBRE’s Tech and Media Insights Center and co-author of the report. “Meanwhile, large tech companies have been an ongoing source of demand; The 10 most active tech companies leasing office space since 2013 account for 27 percent of overall tech-industry leasing.”

To read the full report, click here.