Office space leasing to fall 1% in July-Sept across top 7 cities: Report

Office space leasing is estimated to fall 1 per cent during July-September to 172 lakh square feet across seven major cities, mainly on lower demand in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR, according to Colliers India.

The gross leasing of office space stood at 174 lakh (17.4 million) sq ft in the year-ago period.

Gross absorption does not include lease renewals, pre-commitments and deals where only a Letter of Intent has been signed.

According to the data, the gross office space leasing in Bengaluru is set to fall 25 per cent to 47 lakh (4.7 million) sq ft in the third quarter of this year from 63 lakh (6.3 million) sq ft in the year-ago period.

In Delhi-NCR, the office leasing is projected to decline to 16 lakh (1.6 million) from 24 lakh (2.4 million) sq ft.

Hyderabad too is likely to witness a fall of 48 per cent in workspace demand to 15 lakh (1.5 million) sq ft from 29 lakh (2.9 million) sq ft.

Colliers India did not provide the reasons for likely decline in office leasing activities in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR during the current quarter.

Among other major cities, the office demand is set to rise in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai.

The gross leasing of office space in Chennai is estimated to surge 86 per cent to 26 lakh (2.6 million) square feet from 14 lakh (1.4 million) square feet.

In Maharashtra's two big markets Mumbai and Pune, the office demand remained strong during the July-September quarter.

The gross leasing of office space is estimated to rise 76 per cent in Mumbai to 30 lakh (3 million) square feet from 17 lakh (1.7 million) sq ft.

In Pune, the leasing activities are likely to increase 42 per cent to 37 lakh (3.7 million) square feet from 26 lakh (2.6 million) square feet.

In Kolkata, the demand remained flat at 1 lakh ( 0.1 million) sq ft during the third quarter of the current calendar year.

Despite subdued demand in September quarter, the consultant noted that the gross office leasing is estimated to rise 8 per cent to 509 lakh (50.9 million) sq ft during the January-September period of this year from 473 lakh (47.3 million) square feet in the corresponding period of the preceding year.

Commenting on the data, Arpit Mehrotra, Managing Director, Office services, India, Colliers, said, "India's office market continues to demonstrate resilience, crossing the 50 million square feet benchmark in the first nine months of the year, despite ongoing external volatilities and trade frictions."  Global Capability Centers (GCCs) have already leased close to 20 million sq ft in 2025 across the top seven cities, contributing around 40 per cent of the overall office space demand, he added.