en.Wedoany.com Reported - According to CBRE's Q1 2026 report on the Guadalajara office market, technology, pharmaceutical, and professional services companies are driving a sustained recovery in corporate activity in the region.
The report shows that as of the end of Q1, the inventory of Class A/A+ office space in the Guadalajara metropolitan area stood at 806,000 square meters, remaining largely flat over the past two years. However, the market vacancy rate has dropped from 12% in Q1 2025 to 8.1% in Q1 2026, with available space significantly reduced. While over 30 corporate buildings remain vacant across the city, only four properties can offer complete, contiguous full-floor spaces.
Alongside the reduction in available space, market transaction volume has grown significantly: total corporate absorption rose from 6,200 square meters in Q1 2025 to 10,500 square meters in Q1 2026. During the same period, net absorption doubled from 3,600 square meters to 7,600 square meters. Leasing activity in Q1 was concentrated in corporate spaces ranging from 70 to 2,200 square meters, with popular areas including the Financial Zone, Puerta de Hierro, and the Lopez Mateos–Americas corridor, where space contraction and relocation rates have slowed.
Demand for premium office space is tied to local economic growth. Data from Mexico's Ministry of Economy (SE) shows that Jalisco attracted $1.25 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2025, a 14% year-over-year increase, making it Mexico's seventh-largest FDI destination. This capital has accelerated the expansion of global digital engineering centers and biomedical research companies, which have rigid requirements for specialized real estate layouts.
With only 9,000 square meters of new supply added to the market over the past two years, developers are advancing new projects to meet short-term corporate demand. As of early 2026, office space under construction totaled 53,200 square meters, of which 20,000 square meters are scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2026, primarily in the Financial Zone and the Lopez Mateos–Americas corridor. These new projects feature floor plates ranging from 900 to 1,700 square meters, designed to accommodate large-scale corporate operations, business integration, and concentration of technical talent.
The trend of tightening space and accelerating demand in Guadalajara aligns with Mexico's national real estate market, particularly Mexico City. CBRE's report on the Mexico City office market indicates that the city's annual net absorption grew by 39%, reaching 247,000 square meters. By the end of the period, Mexico City's Class A/A+ office inventory stood at 7.4 million square meters, growing only 0.6% year-over-year due to strict inventory additions.
Similar to the shift in demand toward premium corridors in western Mexico, corporate expansion in the capital is highly concentrated in the Central Business District (CBD), including Lomas Palmas, Polanco, and Reforma. This CBD accounted for 62% of total transaction activity and 52% of net absorption in the city, driving the submarket vacancy rate down from 14.8% to 11.7%. The average size of the top ten leasing transactions exceeded 2,000 square meters. By sector, financial services (20%), technology and IT (16%), and corporate services (12%) led leasing velocity.
Macroeconomic data also confirms this trend. Of the $40.9 billion in FDI received by Mexico in 2025, Mexico City accounted for $22.813 billion (56%), a 44.6% year-over-year increase. Inflows of foreign capital have driven labor expansion: registered formal employment with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) grew 4% year-over-year to 3.7 million, adding 41,000 formal positions, primarily driven by corporate services and commercial sectors.
Facing sustained demand, developers have 246,000 square meters under construction across seven active projects, scheduled for completion between 2026 and 2028. An estimated 213,000 square meters of new supply will be delivered, concentrated along the Insurgentes, Reforma, Polanco, and Lomas Palmas corridors. With 40% of the space under construction already secured through pre-leasing agreements, the risk parameters for new supply remain highly manageable.
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