The rate of increase in Asian office rental rates has slowed.
According to Jones Lang LaSalle’s latest Asia Pacific Office Index, leasing activity in Asia Pacific’s main office markets remained essentially stable in the first quarter of 2013. qatar real estate
The region’s combined rental growth averaged 0.3 percent from the previous quarter, compared to 0.4 percent in the previous quarter of 2012. According to JLL, 14 of the 27 markets in the index increased, while the others stabilized or fell.
Overall, businesses are still concerned about the quantity of space they will require.
“Landlords are being cautious about asking rents, and we expect corporate occupiers to be hesitant to pay higher prices,” Jane Murray, JLL’s Asia Pacific research director, said in the report.
Jakarta reported the highest rent increase in the region, at 7.4 percent, while other growing Southeast Asian cities reported rises ranging from one to four percent. Beijing, on the other hand, saw the biggest drop in quarterly rental rates, falling 3.7 percent following a great year in 2012. According to JLL, rents in Hong Kong declined 1.3 percent as landlords remain under pressure.
Most Australian cities’ rental growth declined by one to three percent, with Perth reporting the biggest drop of 3.3 percent.
In the past year, average rents increased by 2.2 percent, compared to 6.2 percent in 2011. Jakarta’s yearly growth rate was the highest in the area, at 36%, with rentals about 150 percent more than four years before.
Rental growth in Australia fell by 4.2 percent on an annual basis, the most of any country.
The region’s average capital values climbed by 1.4 percent during the quarter, which was the same as the previous quarter “
Overall, while occupier sentiment is higher in 2013 than it was in 2012, this has not yet converted into activity — the ‘lag’ between corporate confidence and take-up means we will likely see a pick-up at the end of the year and into 2014 “Jeremy Sheldon, managing director of markets, stated.
Markets are projected to become more advantageous for landlords as regional economic growth accelerates.
“We estimate single-digit rise for the full calendar year,” Dr. Murray said, “with rents in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Beijing beginning to recover in the second half and the largest increase likely to be observed in Jakarta.”
