COVID-19 has accelerated many pre-pandemic trends among commercial real estate investors – especially in the office market – as, increasingly, suburban locales have outperformed urban office markets, both in terms of invested capital and associated returns.

Since the recovery from the Great Financial Crisis began, there has been a fairly steady increase in suburban markets' total share of overall office sales. At the onset of the pandemic, investors contributed more capital toward suburban office assets than to properties located in central business districts (CBDs).

This trend accelerated through 2020 and into the first half of 2021, with the suburban share of office sales now exceeding its long-term average for 17 consecutive quarters. Compared with a low point below 50% a decade ago, suburban office transactions now represent a staggering two thirds of all office sales.