Office market in India continues to be robust despite sluggish economic growth, with the Central Business District (CBD) of Bengaluru registering the highest year-on-year rental growth in the Asia-Pacific region at 17.6 per cent in July to September quarter this year (Q3 2019), according to Knight Frank.
A resurgence in IT/ITeS sector hiring since the first half of 2019 (H1 2019) and increased activity by manufacturing companies kept demand buoyant in Bengaluru CBD, comprising areas such as MG Road, Infantry Road and Residency Road, the property consultant said in its report Asia-Pacific Prime Office Rental Index Q3 2019.
New and higher priced stock coming online in the CBD along with higher rentals being charged by renovated properties also caused rentals to rise, it said.
Bengaluru was followed by the CBDs of Melbourne and Bangkok at second and third ranks, with a year-on-year office rental growth of 15.5 per cent and 9.4 per cent respectively.
The CBDs of Connaught Place in National Capital Region (NCR) and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai were the seventh and 11th fastest-growing prime office markets in the Asia-Pacific region, respectively, with a comparatively modest 4.4 per cent and two per cent YoY rental growth in Q3 2019.
In terms of rentals, Hong Kong, with a monthly rental value of USD 206.6 per sqm, was the most expensive office market in Asia-Pacific in Q3 2019, followed by Tokyo (USD 110. 9 per sqm) and Singapore (USD 80.5 per sqm).
The CBDs of NCR and Mumbai were ranked as the fifth and seventh most expensive prime office markets in Asia- Pacific, with monthly rental values of USD 51.8 per sqm and USD 46.2 per sqm respectively.
India and Australia were the only two countries that saw rentals grow or stabilise across prime office markets on a quarterly basis in Q3 2019, it was stated.
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