Hong Kong is still the world's priciest office market

London and New York comes after.

Hong Kong has maintained its position as the priciest office market, followed by London and New York, according to CBRE’s annual Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs report.

Hong Kong’s Central topped the list with prime office occupancy costs reaching US$303 per sq. ft. per annum, followed by London’s West End (US$213.85 per sq. ft.) and New York’s Midtown Manhattan (US$203 per sq. ft.).

Hong Kong’s West Kowloon (US$190 per sq. ft.) dropped one place to 4th while Beijing’s CBD (US$183 per sq. ft.) rounded the top five.

CBRE tracks occupancy costs for prime office space in 121 markets around the globe. This year’s top 10 list remains largely unchanged, highlighting the strength of gateway cities in attracting and maintaining a successful occupier base.

“Grade A office rents in Central have increased by 3% in the first five months of 2017, due largely to the exceptional low vacancy rate (1.5%) and robust demand from mainland corporations,” said Darren Nugent, Executive Director, Advisory & Transaction Services - Office, CBRE Hong Kong.

Asia Pacific was home to seven of the top 10 most expensive markets—Hong Kong (Central), Hong Kong (West Kowloon), Beijing (CBD), Beijing (Finance Street), Tokyo (Marunouchi/Otemachi), New Delhi (Connaught Place - CBD), and Shanghai (Pudong).

Shanghai (Puxi) in China had the highest growth in occupancy cost, followed by Guangzhou, Bangalore and Shanghai (Pudong). Singapore’s occupancy costs continued to fall, thanks to increased supply of office stock and weak levels of inflation.