Houston offices are buzzing despite recent severe weather events

The Office Busyness Index is a tool developed by Avison Young to measure office occupancy rates across the United States. It uses smartphone data to track foot traffic in nearly 4,000 office buildings. Houston's office busyness index averaged 63.7% in June 2024 compared to a pre-pandemic 2019 baseline, indicating a gradual return to office that continues to outpace the national index.  Recent severe weather events have caused a steep 3.6% year-over-year decline, with violent storms and power outages forcing many people to remain home.

Despite this setback, there are still positive signs of a return to office, with office utilization recently reaching a post-pandemic peak of 73.5% in April 2024, demonstrating strong underlying momentum as the index was experiencing a 11.2% year-over-year increase. Building on the positive momentum generated by the April peak, and with the impact of weather events dissipating, office utilization is poised for sustained growth throughout the remainder of 2024.