IT and business service centres were the most active tenants on the Prague office market last year, having signed lease contracts for 84,000 sqm and reaching 31 % of net take-up. In 2015 the largest leasing transaction represented by an agent (JLL) was concluded in the history of Prague´s office market – SAP leased nearly 25,000 sqm in Metronom office building in Prague 5. SAP will move its 2,000 employees working for three operations under one roof. 

Vacancy rates have further declined on the Budapest office market as a result of modest development activity and strong demand from tenants. The Budapest Research Forum has published its quarterly office market analysis.

Wizz Air Hungary Kft., the largest low-cost airline in CEE moved its Budapest headquarters to Laurus Offices in mid-March 2016. Wizz Air is renting nearly 3,200 square meters of office space in building B of the complex, which was developed by Erste Group Immorent Kft., an affiliate of Austria-based Erste Group.

HARMAN International and BASF Hungária Kft. has signed lease agreements with Skanska. The Swedish developer’s Nordic Light office building in Budapest now has preliminary lease agreements for 26% of its total leasable area. Colliers represented the tenants in the transactions, while CBRE takes exclusive responsibility for leasing Nordic Light. 

Nile House, part of the office project River City Prague in Prague 8 – Karlín owned by CA Immo, has received the first Platinum “LEED for Existing Building: Operation and Maintenance” certification in the Czech Republic. JLL´s Property Management team provided all the necessary support, managed the materials for this certification and coordinated the process.

Demand for office space in Budapest grew significantly in Q4 2015, while the vacancy rate reached a new record low of 12.1%. Development activity was low in the last quarter of the year, the annual supply in 2015 was 50,885 sq m, 25.4% lower than in 2014.

The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for the fourth quarter of 2015. Gross take-up amounted to 161,800 sq m, representing an increase of 78% compared to the previous quarter and the strongest quarterly result ever recorded on Prague office market. Also on a positive note, the vacancy rate decreased by 1.8 percentage points to 14.6% when compared to the previous quarter.

Europe’s prime office market vacancy rate is expected to fall back to its 2009 level by the end of 2016 and then to continue declining over the rest of the decade, according to global real estate advisor, CBRE. In Europe’s major cities, office development is not keeping pace with growing demand driven by improving employment trends and almost all key office markets are expected to show falling vacancy rates and accelerated rental growth over the next five years.

Rents on the Budapest office market are set to rise according to Cushman & Wakefield, involved with leasing more space than any other agent in the market. The continued recovery is driven by sound economic, demand and supply fundamentals.

Ghelamco Poland has signed a record-breaking agreement for the lease of office space at Warsaw Spire. The new tenant will take nearly 22,000 square metres in the A-class building whose occupancy rate has now soared to over 50%.