Los Angeles County accounts for nearly 9 million people in the Southern California commercial real estate market, occupying 180 million sq.ft. of office space and 900 million sq.ft., of industrial space. Office and industrial space make up the backbone of the professional and industrial base that houses the southern California economy. As the economy fluctuates, national market indicators, such as employment figures, can affect the local economy and for example, jobs are gained or lost. Likewise, the need for office or industrial space follows these trends, albeit with some lag. By following these market indicators, you as a tenant in the can position your purchasing power to your advantage and make market conditions work for you! Key indicators include:

Los Angeles is a composition of seven distinct sub-markets for office and industrial space including: Downtown Los Angeles, the Tri-Cities, the West Side, Mid-Counties, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and South Bay. Each sub-market is again divided into territories that include superior locations and less preferable ones. On a product level, office and industrial buildings range from "A" Class to "C" class ("A" being most desirable) with newer buildings (Construction) often providing state of the art facilities and amenities that demand a higher market leasing rate.

By comparing the year-on-year percentage changes in the four key indicators, a tenant can project how landlords in the market may react, more or less favorably, to a proposal to lease space. Keep these four key indicators in mind when researching local markets to position your company in the best light and take advantage of the market!