Columbia CompStak (CCRI) Rent Index National Update: May 15, 2026

Commercial real estate rent data is only as useful as the methodology behind it. That’s why CompStak partnered with Columbia Business School faculty to build the Columbia CompStak Rent Index (CCRI), the first quality-adjusted CRE rent index tracking constant-quality net effective rents across U.S. office, retail, and industrial markets, both nationally and across major MSAs.

Unlike traditional rent benchmarks that track asking rents or simple averages, the CCRI controls for quality mix and incorporates concessions, giving investors, lenders, occupiers, and capital allocators a cleaner read on where rents are actually moving. Each month, CompStak publishes a national update powered by its database of verified lease transactions, one of the largest and most comprehensive in commercial real estate.

Below is a breakdown of what the latest data shows across all three property sectors at the national level, as of May 15, 2026.

Constant-Quality Net Effective Rent Indices

Nationally, office effective rent growth has been rebounding over the past six months. National retail rents are down in March but roughly flat over the past year. Industrial rents are down over the past six months. The relative performance of office and industrial is a reversal of fortunes compared to the prior five-year period. Most recent observation: March 2026.

Manhattan Office NER growth is up 8.7% over the year to 2025.Q4. NER rent growth was down 1.17% in 2025.Q4. Our next update on June 15, 2026 will include the first estimates for 2026 Q1. Preliminary analysis shows Manhattan office rent growth will be strong.

Office: Charlotte (+31.6%), Baltimore (+22.2%), and Austin (+18.5%) lead office rent growth over the year to 2025.Q4, while coastal markets show divergence. The New York MSA posts healthy gains (+12.1%) but San Francisco (−5.2%), Seattle (−6.5%), and Miami (−8.2%) continue to struggle. The national Office index registered a +4.54% over the same period, with strong performers offsetting weakness in coastal MSAs.

Retail: Atlanta stands out with +84.1% rent growth on relatively thin volume, accompanied by other top performers like Detroit (+36.4%) and Los Angeles (+23.2%). Houston (−20.1%), Boston (−8.8%), and Las Vegas (−7.4%) show the biggest declines. The national Retail index registered +4.71% NER growth over the same period.

Industrial: Industrial growth is more compressed across markets compared to Office and Retail, with Boston leading with +11% rent growth and Charlotte declining the most at −17.6%. The national Industrial index posted −0.75% over the year to 2025.Q4, showing that, in aggregate, the industrial real estate boom is over.

See the live data on columbiacompstak.com.