The Budapest office market enjoyed a dynamic year in terms of gross take-up, equating to nearly 535,000 sqm of office space transacted, effectively in line with the record year of 2015 which saw circa 538,000 sqm.
However, the annual net take-up (which excludes lease renewals) reached a record volume in 2018, with nearly 400,000 sqm of space being transacted, a significantly higher figure than 2015 which ‘only’ transacted circa 365,000 sqm. This strong net take-up was largely driven by a flurry of new leases within the existing office stock, equating to circa 230,000 sqm (circa 60%) of the net take-up across 350 transactions. Pre-leases in ongoing developments also stood for a notable share within the net take-up, at ca. 25% of the volume.
This high level of demand has not gone unnoticed by developers, as the city now has circa 482,000 sqm of office space under construction, of which almost 50% is already pre-committed. As a result of the strong demand in the market, the average vacancy rate in Budapest has eroded to an all-time low of 7.3%, with further reductions expected over 2019.
In 2018 CBRE transacted the largest amount of office space in Budapest, equating to nearly 105,000 sqm – the first time an agency has ever exceeded 100,000 sqm within a year in Hungary.
“To be the first agency to ever transact over 100,000 sqm in one year is a great honour to have achieved. I am extremely proud of the team for their strong 2018 performance and thank all our clients for the trust they placed in us. Activity in the Budapest office market is the strongest I have ever seen, and less any unexpected macro-economic changes the outlook for 2019 remains robust,” David M Johnston MRICS Head of Advisory & Transactions at CBRE Hungary said.
