New office lettings in Central fall 32% in December

Blame the traditional holiday season.

In Central with the highest Grade A office occupancy rate, new office lettings fell 32% MoM largely owing to the traditional season, according to JLL’s Property Market Monitor. 

Leasing activity continues to be led by PRC firms which represented 67% of all new lettingsas the pending sale of The Center failed to discourage two Chinese firms which reportedly leased 30,000 sq ft of The Center.

However, rents in Central inched marginally by 0.4% as vacancy dipped to 1.7%. 

Overall rent growth for the Grade A office sector rose 0.3% with average monthly rent valued at $72 per sq ft. 

Robust investor interest in Grade A offices remains robust in December with net take-up in the overall office market reaching 449,500 sq ft in December thanks to realization of pre-commitments at Lee Garden Three and new lettings in Kowloon.

Photo from Wpcpey - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0