
Rents in Central market down for 7 straight months
Prime 'AAA' rents are 20% below peak levels.
According to Savills, activity in the Central office leasing market increased gradually, driven by tenants interested in discounted buildings as financial companies remained cost-cautious with a volatile stock market in an uncertain economic environment.
Prime ‘AAA’ building rents are now 20% below peak levels achieved in Q2/2011. Rents in Central are down for the seventh consecutive quarter, with the rate of decline now
slowing, suggesting that rents in Central are close to bottoming-out.
Here's more from Savills:
Prime buildings in Central are offering large discounts to tenants, and at the end of Q1/2013, Grade AAA rents stood at HK$128 per sq ft net effective with vacancy rates in AAA building at only 1.9%.
New leasing demand in these buildings was noted in Q1/2013: HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co, Limited leased over 15,000 sq ft in Two IFC, while Och-Ziff Capital Management HK Ltd took-up over 10,000 sq ft in Cheung Kong Center.