In general, office markets around Europe are starting to show signs of improvement, writes Eric Peeters, head of Europe offices at Cushman & Wakefield.
However, the key European centres are moving at three different speeds.
On the whole, annual rental growth has improved year-on-year, with the European average rent increasing slightly to ¤390 per m².
Total take-up improved annually in 2005 to approximately 9.7m m², an increase of more than 1.2m m² (14%) when compared with the previous year.
Market activity (annual take-up as a proportion of stock) showed a figure of 4.7%, compared with 2004’s figure of 4.3%.
Total European office stock has increased to 208m m² in the past year and with total availability remaining relatively constant, at approximately 215m sq ft, the European vacancy rate has moved down slightly to 9.5%. There was an increase in space under construction year-on-year, with over 9m m² of space in the pipeline.
City level analysis shows that the European office market is moving at three different speeds.
The upper-tier performers include: Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, Moscow, Madrid and Barcelona. The middle-tier performers include: Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Dublin, Amsterdam, Lisbon and London. The lower-tier performers include: Brussels, Frankfurt, Rome and Milan. This trend is expected to continue into 2006.
