Boston, MA – The combination of consumers’ unquenched demand for new technology and businesses’ application of new technologies, such as cloud computing, to gain efficiencies has given the high tech industry a job growth rate nearly four times faster than the national average since the employment trough was reached in February 2010 (5.1 percent vs. 1.4 percent). Additionally, rising venture capital and initial public offering (IPO) activity is fueling key rapid evolution and growth segments of the high-tech industry. The services sector, which excludes manufacturing components of the high-tech industry, has the greatest direct impact on office space demand and is growing even faster at 5.9 percent, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s high tech report that tracks 18 U.S. markets and provides an overview of the impact high-tech growth is having on office space supply, demand and pricing conditions.
Markets with growing high-tech cluster strength and that are positioned for rising rents and demand over the next 12 months include Boston, Seattle, Portland, Raleigh-Durham and San Diego. Many of these markets are becoming landlord-favorable with more moving in that direction. In high-tech funding, Silicon Valley (San Francisco Bay Area total) dominated venture capital funding at nearly 40 percent with New England taking 12 percent.