Office occupier take-up in Edinburgh was down 5.21% to 200,000 sq ft in the second quarter of 2015, compared with 211,000 sq ft in the first quarter.
Total occupier take-up for the first six months was 411,000 sq ft, compared with 477,000 sq ft in the equivalent period last year.
JLL predicts that activity levels will continue at a similar pace over the next six months.
With significant prelet activity expected in the second half of the year, take-up for 2015 as a whole could exceed last year’s figure, which was the highest in more than a decade.
Edinburgh saw a total of 58 deals in Q2, up on the 45 transacted between January and March. This was mainly smaller deals, with only three transactions over 10,000 sq ft.
Craig Watson, director, office agency for JLL in Edinburgh, said: “It is clear that occupier confidence has returned to the Edinburgh office market. Take-up over the last three months has proved strong, with a large jump in the number of transactions.”
Over 82% of the take-up occurred in the city centre, including Capita taking 26,896 sq ft at 145 Morrison Street, The Law Society of Scotland acquiring 19,079 sq ft at Atria One and Whitespace taking 13,000 sq ft space at Norloch House.
Occupier demand continues to focus on core city centre locations, with activity in the second half of the year set to focus on two size groupings: sub-5,000 sq ft and above 20,000 sq ft. Corporate activity is also predicted to increase in this period.
