Office space leasing dips 36% in Jan-June across 7 top cities: Colliers

Gross leasing of office space across seven major cities declined 36 per cent in the first half of this calendar year as corporates deferred plans to expand amid uncertainties over the Covid-19 pandemic, according to realty consultant Colliers.

"Office gross absorption across the top-seven cities touched 16.7 million sq feet, a drop of 36 per cent year-on-year, led by the coronavirus-induced economic slowdown and slow decision making by occupiers," Colliers International India said in a statement.

Majority of the deals expected to take place in the second quarter of 2020 were pushed to subsequent quarters, or are being reconsidered, it added.

According to the data, the office space leasing in Bengaluru dropped 33 per cent in the first half of 2020 to 5.4 million sq feet from the corresponding period last year. In Hyderabad, the gross absorption fell 62 per cent to 1.7 million sq feet.

Office space demand in the Delhi-NCR market dropped 27 per cent to 3.2 million sq feet. In Chennai, the office space leasing fell 34 per cent to 1.7 million sq ft.

The office space demand in Mumbai dipped by 53 per cent to 1.9 million sq ft but demand rose in Pune by 18 per cent to 2.5 million sq ft.

The consultant has pegged office space leasing to decline 34 per cent to 38 million sq ft during the full calendar year 2020. In 2019, the absorption was at an all-time high.

Colliers International is a leading global real estate services and investment management company. It has operations in 68 countries with 14,000 employees.