About the Rent Index
Our Partnership
The Columbia CompStak Rent Index (CCRI) is the first quality-adjusted commercial real estate rent index built on net effective rents. It establishes a new public benchmark for measuring U.S. commercial rent performance nationally and across major MSAs.
Developed by Columbia Business School Faculty using CompStak's verified lease transactions, CCRI establishes a new public benchmark for measuring U.S. commercial rent performance across office, retail, and industrial markets nationwide.
By combining transaction-level lease data with academic rigor, the partnership bridges real-world market intelligence and institutional research standards to deliver a transparent, constant-quality view of rent movement over time.
Why This Matters
Much of the conversation around "rent growth" has been shaped by averages that blend different buildings, locations, and lease structures.
When leasing activity shifts toward higher-quality assets, or when concessions expand, traditional metrics can overstate recovery or mask weakness. That distortion can lead to mispriced risk, overly optimistic underwriting, and policy decisions based on incomplete information.
CCRI fills this gap by providing:
- Free, public access to rent trend data
- Quality-adjusted rent measurement
- Net effective rent that reflects real economics, not headline figures
- Academic transparency and credibility
- Regular updates for timely insights
Who CCRI Supports
CCRI is designed to support more informed decision-making across the commercial real estate ecosystem.
Lenders, Investors, and CMBS
Avoid being misled by raw averages that can be flattered by flight-to-quality leasing and masked by concessions, supporting more accurate underwriting and risk assessment.
Investors and Capital Allocators
Interpret rent trends using constant-quality comparisons that separate true rent movement from shifts in which buildings are transacting.
Policymakers and Municipal Leaders
Plan and assess more effectively with a clearer view of constant-quality rents by market and property type, helping align decisions with economic reality.
Tenants and Occupiers
See beyond headline rents by accounting for concessions through net effective rent, supporting smarter, better-informed lease negotiations.
Columbia Business School's Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate is consistently ranked among the world's top real estate programs. Our faculty leads groundbreaking research in real estate economics, finance, and urban development.
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CompStak is the leading source of commercial real estate lease comps, sale comps, and analytics. Our crowdsourced data platform provides unparalleled transparency into commercial real estate markets, allowing lenders, owners, investors, brokers, and appraisers make better decisions.
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Research Inquiries
For methodology and research questions, please contact Columbia Business School.
Press Inquiries
For media and press questions, email ccri@compstak.com.