The office apocalypse might finally be over, if signs of life from the world’s largest commercial real estate services company come to fruition

(Credit: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

• The pandemic almost killed offices, but with companies and the federal government demanding workers get back, the outlook is rosier for real estate. CBRE credited the “improved return to office momentum and a healthy economic outlook” for optimism on the horizon.  

Once upon a time, conversations about offices sounded catastrophic. The pandemic birthed remote work, so offices were empty, and their market values fell. Office vacancies kept hitting all-time highs, the rate surpassing 20% for the first time ever. Predictions that values could fall more than 40% peak-to-trough made the rounds.