WALT, or weighted average lease term, is the average time left on the leases in a building, weighted so that bigger leases count for more. It tells you how long the building's current income is contracted to last.
Formula
Weighted by rent: WALT = Sum of (Years remaining × Annual rent) / Total annual rent
Weighted by area: WALT = Sum of (Years remaining × Square feet) / Total leased square feet
Worked example
A 54,000 square foot suburban office building has 10 tenants and one vacant suite, as of 1 October 2026. Four of the leases:
Northgate Engineering: 9,800 Sq ft, $259,700 rent, 4.3 years remaining
Summit Behavioral Health: 7,200 Sq ft, $183,600 rent, 4.1 Years remaining
Meridian Wealth Advisors: 6,500 Sq ft, $149,500 rent, 1.2 Years remaining
Cole & Varga LLP: 5,600 Sq ft, $134,400 rent, 0.0 (holding over)
Multiply each tenant's years remaining by its annual rent, add the 10 results, and divide by total rent of $1,325,150. The rent-weighted WALT is 3.1 years. Weighted by area instead, across 52,200 leased square feet, it's 3.0 years.
Read with the rollover schedule, 3.1 years means 38% of the leased space expires within 24 months. The building looks stabilized on the cover page and works like a leasing project.
What it means in practice
A short WALT is risk and opportunity at once. Leases rolling soon mean downtime, free rent and leasing costs; they also mean the chance to reset below-market rents. A long WALT on a single-tenant building means steady income and a buyer pool that cares mostly about that tenant's credit.
Two conventions change the figure, so state both. Weighting by rent shows how much income is at risk; weighting by area shows how much space is. Some analysts also count renewal options as term, which flatters the number. Count to the end of the current term unless the option is already exercised.
The rent roll template calculates rent-weighted WALT on its Summary sheet and walks through the full 11-suite example.