The sixth annual ASA DataFest at the University of Notre Dame hosted 15 teams with 54 student participants.  This took place March 21 through March 23, 2025.
 

For this competition, students were analyzing data provided by Savills, an international commercial real estate firm that advises businesses on office leasing decisions. Savills offers insights into market trends, available office space, and broader economic indicators.  The dataset included commercial leasing transactions from 2018 to 2024 for selected U.S. markets and sectors like technology, law, and finance. Because lease data is not publicly recorded—unlike property sales—it often contains inconsistencies and gaps, which added to the analytical challenge.

The dataset offered a valuable opportunity to explore how the commercial real estate market has evolved in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students had to account for changing market and submarket boundaries over time and consider how these shifts could affect analysis and interpretation. The project encouraged teams to grapple with real-world data limitations while uncovering meaningful patterns in leasing activity, space utilization, and post-pandemic recovery trends across different regions and industries.