Report: Bay Area ranked 2nd in the country for total office sales volume in 2025

San Francisco and the Bay Area remained some of the priciest office markets in the country last year and tallied some of the highest sales totals in 2025, according to a new CommercialCafe report.

San Francisco was the fourth-best among U.S. office markets in terms of sales after totaling more than $4.1 billion last year throughout the city.

The Bay Area totaled $5.2 billion in 2025 for the second-largest sales total in the country last year. Specifically, PG&E bought its headquarters building in downtown Oakland in 2025 in what was the Bay Area market’s largest office sale of the year. Closed in three tranches, the $906 million acquisition of 300 Lakeside Drive accounted for roughly 17% of the year’s sales total in the Bay Area and consolidated the company’s presence in the market, according to the report.

A two-story office building in Menlo Park changed hands in December. Los Altos-based developer Four Corners Properties acquired the site at 1540 El Camino Real in 2019 and developed the trophy office asset that sold for $103.75 million last year, the report noted.

Palo Alto was home to the highest-priced office square footage deal last year: In August, First Citizens Bank & Trust Company paid $82 million for a 41,428-square-foot corner building at 250 University Ave. — a $1,979-per-square-foot sale that was the priciest in this market in 2025.

Bay Area highlights:

• The Bay Area ranked 2nd in the country for total office sales volume in 2025, with transactions totaling nearly $5.2 billion — trailing only Manhattan.
• The market's largest deal was the $906 million acquisition of 300 Lakeside Dr. in Oakland, by PG&E. Notably, the transaction represented around 17% of the Bay Area's full-year sales total.
• With 129 transactions closed, the Bay Area ranked 5^th nationally for deal count and was the most active office market on the West Coast in 2025.
• Property sales in the Bay Area averaged $354 per square foot, nearly double the national average of $192 per square foot, with the priciest asset changing hands at $1,979 per square foot (250 University Ave., Palo Alto).
• San Francisco specifically ranked as the second-most expensive office market in the country in 2025, with properties selling for nearly $402 per square foot — the only market outside Manhattan to average above $400 per square foot last year.

The full report is here: https://www.commercialcafe.com/blog/top-us-markets-for-investment-2025/.