Grade A Offices: Tenant Advantages Deepen with Greater Flexibility and Choice Greater China Top Office Supply/Demand Trends
Source: EQS
Of the six major cities in the region — comprising the tier-1 city group, The supply/demand rundown for 20 city core area-level markets in Source: New Grade A office supply in From 2024 to H1 2025, softening rental levels, large leasing deals, and pre-leasing at new entrants boosted citywide net absorption to surpass the previous period performance, reaching 511,967 sq m, up 51.9% y-o-y. The overall office market vacancy rate trended down 1.8 percentage points from the Q4 2023 level to 16.87%. No new supply is scheduled to enter the Grade A office market in H2 2025. We expect the market to continue to digest existing stock, in turn further pulling down the overall vacancy rate. Landlords' room for rent concessions is approaching a limit, and the overall market is now in a bottoming-out phase. We expect overall office rents to stabilize by the end of 2025. From 2024 to H1 2025, approximately 1.34 million sq m of high-quality office space launched in the Shanghai Grade A office market, with 56% of the area located in emerging districts. Over the past six quarters, the Shanghai Grade A office market recorded average quarterly net absorption of 132,266 sq m. The professional services, retail & trade, and TMT sectors were active in leasing, accounting for the top three sectors for leased area. As at Q2 2025, the vacancy rate rose to 23.6%. In turn, the average monthly rental level fell 8.2% y-o-y to From H2 2025 to 2027, Citywide net absorption for 2024 contracted 57.9% y-o-y to record 165,000 sq m. Citywide net absorption in H1 2025 expanded y-o-y but remained at the similarly low level for the same period in the past decade. The citywide overall vacancy rate has risen 1.7 percentage points since the end of 2023 to reach 27.8%. The Q2 2025 monthly average rental level dropped 14.1% from Q4 2023 to record Approximately 1.2 million sq m of new supply is scheduled to enter the market in the H2 2025 period. The overall vacancy rate is expected to continue to rise, and rents will face downwards pressure in the short- term. With the ongoing development of AI, we anticipate that the Grade A office market will see incremental demand growth driven by the further emergence of high-quality technology sector firms. From the beginning of 2024 to the second quarter of 2025, new office projects totaling 441,713 sq m of space were completed. Citywide total stock then expanded to 6.94 million sq m. Delayed deliveries have reduced supply in 2024 compared to 2023, although accelerated construction in the Financial City district led to a resurgence of supply in the first half of 2025. Compared to the end of 2023, the market has experienced a rise in lease inquiries. Occupiers continue to view renovation and fit-out expense incentives as key factors when looking to sign a new lease. Domestic enterprises remain the key drivers of transaction activity, with TMT, professional services, and finance firms, the top three sectors for leased area citywide. Ahead, 2.39 million sq m of new space is expected to enter the market by 2027. Headquarter-type properties will account for more than half of the new supply. Market demand continues to evolve, with vacancy rates and rental levels remaining under pressure amid fierce competition. From 2024 through to H1 2025, Grade A office net absorption reached 67,468 sq m for the 2024 to H1 2025 period. The TMT, professional services, and finance sectors accounted for 26.4%, 19.6% and 16.8% of total leasing transaction volume by area, respectively. From the end of 2023, new supply combined with weakening leasing demand have now pushed up the citywide vacancy rate by 4.4 percentage points to reach 28.8%, while the average monthly rental level has dropped to Nearly 1.0 million sq m of new supply is expected to enter the market from H2 2025 to 2027. The supply influx, combined with tenants' cost reductions, is expected to elevate vacancy and exert downwards pressure on rents. Tenants are likely to seize further opportunities for upgrades, renewals, and consolidation. More than 194,000 sq m of new supply entered the market from 2024 through to H1 2025, with 44,900 sq m in H1 2025, distributed approximately equally in core and non-core areas. We forecast upcoming new supply to reach 264,300 sq m in H2 2025. The average quarterly new leased area reached 84,900 sq m in the 2024 to H1 2025 period, 19% higher than the quarterly average for 2020–2023, with the finance sector primarily driving demand. Net absorption recorded 122,000 sq m for the 2024 to H1 2025 period, excluding pre-lease activities at new project developments. The recovery of the Hong Kong IPO market should help support market sentiment and downstream office demand, particularly from finance and professional services firms. However, the high availability and ample new supply pipeline, with occupiers still cost-conscious, dictates our forecast for overall office rents to drop by 7% to 9% through the full-year 2025. From 2024 through to the first half of 2025, the Net absorption for 2024 to H1 2025 reached approximately 161,400 sq m, primarily driven by the consolidation and relocation of self-use headquarters in the financial and insurance sectors. Multinational corporations accounted for around 80.9% of total leasing demand, up from 51.6% in 2023, indicating a higher proportion of foreign occupier activity during the period. Over the next three years, Please click here to download the full report Hashtag: #RealEstate #CommercialProperty #OfficeLeasing #GreaterChina #MarketTrends #CushmanWakefield #PropertyReport #UrbanDevelopment The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. About Cushman & WakefieldNews Source: 戴德梁行
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