Commercial vacancy in Northwest Arkansas increased by 1.4 percentage points to 7.2% in the first half of 2025, according to the Skyline Report released Tuesday (Sept. 23). Commercial vacancy increased from 5.8% in the second half of 2024, with the addition of 204,076 square feet of space and net negative absorption of 648,360 square feet. The next highest vacancy rate increase was in the retail market, which increased to 6.6% from 4.9% in the second half of 2024. The vacancy rate increased from the previous period, but it is lower than the first half of 2024 when the rate was 7.5%. “While the overall vacancy rate increased in this report, the commercial real estate market in Northwest Arkansas continues to be remarkably healthy,” CBER Director Mervin Jebaraj said.