Office space leasing touches 10-qtr high in July-September: Report

Office space leasing in seven major cities touches a 10 quarter high at 11 million sq ft during July-September with corporates remaining upbeat on their expansion plans, according to property consultant CBRE.

The office space absorption in seven cities, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, rose 14 per cent during July-September quarter compared with the year-ago period.

"The third quarter of the year continued to observe strong leasing activity with occupier demand for corporate real estate reaching a 10-quarter high of 11 million sq ft, recording a growth of 9 per cent on a q-o-q basis and 14 per cent on a y-o-y basis," CBRE said in its quarterly report on India Office Market.

The demand for office space was led by Bangalore (24 per cent), Hyderabad (17 per cent) and Mumbai (16 per cent) followed by Chennai (16 per cent) and Pune (13 per cent).

In the first nine months of 2016, the overall prime office space absorption across the seven leading cities was about 28 million sq ft.

"This increase in demand is an indication of an improvement in overall economic sentiment with both domestic and international corporates remaining upbeat on their entry/expansion strategies," CBRE said.

"The commercial real estate market in India continues to grow at a steady pace. Positive changes in policy and regulations have given a further boost to the sector," CBRE Chairman (India and South East Asia) Anshuman Magazine said.

"The year 2015 was a record year with the segment witnessing the highest ever annual office absorption. With just a few months left till the end of the year, I am optimistic that this number will be met, if not surpassed," he added.

The national capital region (NCR), on the other hand, witnessed a drop of almost 50 per cent in office space take-up by corporate occupiers on a quarterly basis.

"This was largely because of a lack of available supply in the established micro-markets, coupled with the fact that new supply of office space lined up for completion was delayed to subsequent quarters," the report said.