- 18/03/2019 - 10:58
This year witnessed a slowdown in new construction. Over the year, 52% fewer office spaces were brought to the market than last year. Due to lack of funding, the construction on many properties was either suspended or postponed; the owners deferred the commissioning of buildings in anticipation of anchor tenants.
The structure of total net absorption reflects the continuing trend towards improving the quality of the leased spaces. Against the background of high vacancy and reduced rental rates, companies are relocating into high quality properties and leaving lower class offices vacant.
The market is oversupplied at present; 3.15M sq m of office space is currently vacant. However, increased absorption in H2 and a reduced commissioning rate of new properties are constraining further growth of vacant spaces and leading to a gradual decline of the indicator.
Owners continued to adjust rental costs to the levels of effective demand. In Class A properties, the annual decrease of rental rates amounted to 11.5%, from 36,000 rubles per sq m per year in late 2014. However, in late December, the average rental rates increased under the impact of the weakening of the ruble during the quarter by 3.5%, up to 32,000 rubles per sq m per year.
