Office rents down 1% in October

Overall vacancy rate was at 8.6%.

Grade A office rents declined moderately across major office submarkets in Hong Kong as overall office rents inched down 1% MoM in October, according to JLL’s latest Property Market Monitor.

The magnitude of the rental drop was less significant than in prior quarters because the pandemic situation was somehow controlled for the month. Core office submarkets experienced greater rental contractions than decentralised submarkets.

Overall vacancy rate by 20 October was at 8.6% as some tenants downsized or shut down their Hong Kong offices amidst the ongoing economic recession.

“In times of uncertainty, occupiers tend to look for flexibility in their real estate plans; hence, more flexible space operators took space to open new centres. The number of transactions was higher than in previous months, as the third wave of viral infections has faded. The majority of the leasing transactions recorded involved pocket-sized spaces,” JLL Hong Kong head of markets Alex Barnes said.