Mumbai: Delhi’s Connaught Place continues to be among the 10 most expensive office markets in the world, while Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex slipped 10 places to the 26th spot, according to property consultant CBRE’s Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs report released on Wednesday.
With an annual rental of $153.26 per sqft, Connaught Place moved a notch higher to the 9th spot, as per the survey. The global ranking tracks rents of prime office spaces across 120 markets.
The annual rents for Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex was at $96.51 per sqft. Nariman Point, which was earlier considered the most expensive office location in the city, also slipped to the 37th spot with an annual rent of $72.80 per sq. ft.
“Strong demand from finance, technology and e-commerce sectors has fueled the growth momentum in prime occupancy costs from last year, and commercial office market remains a strong growth propeller for the real estate sector,” said Anshuman Magazine, chairman, India and South-East Asia, CBRE.
Globally, prime office occupancy costs, which reflect rent, local taxes and service charges, rose 2.4% year-on-year, the report added. “The survey highlights that for the first time in this cycle, prime office occupancy cost growth was consistent across all regions in the past 12 months. Global economic growth has stimulated robust leasing activity, particularly in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and APAC (Asia Pacific) regions. Occupancy costs grew at a faster rate than last year,” it said.
Hong Kong was the most expensive office location in the world with an annual rent of $306.57, followed by London (West End) and Beijing (Finance Street) with rents of $235.01 and $200.91 per sqft per annum, respectively.
Hong Kong (Central) London (West End) continued to lead the ranking driven by banking and finance sectors. Flexible space operators were also found to be highly active in the Hong Kong market, the report said. “The market with the steepest rise, Durban, experienced strong demand from business-process outsourcing companies. Overall, the APAC region witnessed a 1.7% increase in occupancy cost this year from around 1.2% in 2017.”
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