After 16 consecutive quarters of declining occupancy, the free fall in life science real estate appears to be over. 4Q25 marked an important turning point, with U.S. occupancy bottoming and now registering two consecutive quarters of gains. Occupancy across all properties in 2Q26 stands at 83.3%, while investor-owned properties have climbed to 70.8% after bottoming at 69.9%.
That is encouraging news—but there is still a long way to go. Total life science inventory has grown 27% over the past five years, with several of the country’s largest clusters growing well beyond the national average. Even in a strong demand environment, absorbing that much new space would take time.
Today, 67.8 million square feet of life science space is being marketed as available, either directly or through sublease. In some cases, owners and developers have been able to attract tenants from outside the traditional life science sector or transition properties to other uses. Removing these assets from the life science inventory helps reduce availability and ease some of the pressure on the market. Combined with a pickup in demand and a more measured construction pipeline, these trends suggest the market is beginning to move in a healthier direction.
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