Four of the world’s five most expensive office locations are in Asia, with Hong Kong the priciest of them all, according to CBRE.
The agent’s Prime Office Occupancy Costs survey put Hong Kong-Central’s overall occupancy costs at US$235.23 (£151.91). London’s West End came in second at £143.74.
Beijing’s Finance Street, Beijing’s Jianguomen CBD and New Delhi’s Connaught Place CBD rounded out the top five.
Other Asia-Pacific markets in the top ten include Hong Kong-West Kowloon and Tokyo (Marunouchi/Otemachi).
New York’s Midtown Manhattan returned to the top ten markets for the first time since early, 2012 ranking 10th.
The City of London was ninth most expensive.
Globally, occupancy costs rose by a scant 1.4% on a year-over-year basis, CBRE said.
Modest growth in the Americas and Asia Pacific was partly offset by a slight decrease in recessionary Europe.
But the small global average uptick masked significant increases in markets like Jakarta, Indonesia and suburban Houston, Texas, which posted increases of 38.9% and 21.2%, respectively.
“While the pace of occupancy cost growth globally has slowed, limited supply of prime space in key core business centres has fueled continuous upward movement of occupancy costs,” said Dr Raymond Torto, CBRE’s global chief economist.
“The most expensive office markets often attract the regional headquarters of large multinational firms that require a prime location in a prestigious building with access to major global and regional transit routes.”
CBRE tracks occupancy costs for prime office space in 127 markets around the globe. Of the top 50 “most expensive” markets, 21 are in Asia-Pacific, 18 are in EMEA and 11 in the Americas.
jack.sidders@estatesgazette.com
