Gross office space leasing touches all-time high of 48 mn sq ft in 2018: C&W

Gross leasing of office space hit an all-time high of 48.1 million sq ft in 2018 across eight major cities on higher demand from domestic and global corporates as well as co-working operators, according to property consultant Cushman & Wakefield.

The gross leasing of office space stood at 41 million sq ft in 2017.

The cities tracked by the consultant are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

"India's office market hits an all-time high with leasing activity scaling 48 million sq ft, as forecasted by us earlier during 2018. It signals the strength and resilience of the commercial markets as well as the continued positive business momentum that carried us through the year," said Anshul Jain, country head and managing director, Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) India.

Co-working players took on lease nearly 5 million sq ft, highest ever, of office space during last year.

Nearly 30 per cent of gross leasing volumes came in the form of pre-leasing activity which bodes well for the continued confidence in the country's economic might and growth prospects, he added.

The consultant attributed record gross leasing to "expansionary activity by occupiers in the technology and IT-BPM space, ramp-up by co-working players and investments of companies in global capability centres".

"As has been the trend, Bengaluru's position remains unparalleled with a share of 32 per cent. Hyderabad, which witnessed its highest leasing activity ever (holding a 21 per cent share), is seeing demand rising at a frenetic pace, with no signs of slowing till at least 2020," the report said.

Delhi-NCR made an emphatic comeback during the year, with gross absorption rising 30 per cent to 9.2 million sq ft, it added.

On a net basis, Cushman said the incremental new space leasing rose by 12 per cent to 29 million sq ft across the top-eight cities.

The consultant said supply of office space went up by 34 per cent y-o-y to 34 million sq ft during 2018, with Bengaluru accounting for the largest share at 27 per cent.

"This rapid expansionary activity by occupiers has led to the resurgence of large deals (above 100,000 sq ft) in the market whose tally was noted at about 111 deals," the report added.

Total space leased through large deals stood at 27 million sq ft during last year. Large deals accounted for 57 per cent of the total Grade A leasing during the year, from almost 50 per cent share in 2017.