Greater Boston’s commercial real estate office market experienced a slight uptick in vacancy during the year’s first quarter, increasing 0.3 percent to 15.8, according to new research by Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC.

According to the report, the Greater Boston office market experienced 204,000 square feet of negative absorption in the first quarter. Asking lease rates for Class A office space in Boston’s central business district are $47.31 (down 11.1 percent in the last year) and $23.56 in the suburbs (down 7.9 percent in the past year).

In Boston’s Financial District, East Cambridge and Route 128 West – all considered bellwether areas – rents have stabilized during the past two quarters.

"So far 2010 has shown a broadening of stabilization across larger parts of Greater Boston, particularly as compared to what we were experiencing during 2009 and the latter part of 2008," said Brendan Carroll, vice president of research, RBJ&P. "In some of the submarkets that seem to still be lagging, it should be noted that the presence of fully vacant buildings may be distorting the actual picture."