Prime headline rents in Bucharest continued to increase in the third quarter, reaching a monthly level of €19.5 per sqm, compared with €18.5 per sqm at the beginning of the year. However, the capital city remains among the less expensive destinations in Europe in terms of office occupancy costs.
By comparison, the prime headline rents in Budapest and Warsaw are €24.5 and €24 per sqm respectively, while in Prague the level is even higher reaching €27 euro per sqm. In Sofia, offices are leased for a maximum of €15 per sqm.
Moreover, a regional study produced by Cushman & Wakefield reveals that the average annual income of the IT&C specialists in Bucharest is 40% lower than the level registered in Warsaw, and it is only half of the one from Prague.
”Even though there have been many challenges in 2022 so far, tech companies continued to be active on the office leasing market, with around 80,000 sqm contracted in the first nine months of the year, accounting for 35% of the total demand in Bucharest," said Mădălina Cojocaru, Partner, Office Agency, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
Offices spanning 222,600 sqm have been transacted in Bucharest between January and September, reflecting a 5% increase compared with the same period of last year, while the net take-up (excluding renegotiations/renewals of existing contracts) had a share of more than 60% of this volume, which is 137,000 sqm.
The net take-up exceeded the total new supply from the Q1-Q3 period in Bucharest (105,500 sqm), therefore the overall vacancy rate in the city has slightly decreased to 14.4% in Q3.
New office projects covering 129,000 sqm are slated for delivery in Bucharest by the end of 2023.
