January 26 (SeeNews) - Bucharest office market has stagnated in 2022 due to rising inflation, property and investment management services provider Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said.
When compared to the year before, the total demand for office spaces in the capital remained steady in 2022, at 286,100 sq m, JLL said in a press release on Wednesday.
Just over 25% of the total demand for office space in Bucharest in 2022 came from the IT sector, followed by the professional services sector with 12% and the financial-banking sector, with almost 9%.
At the same time, office buildings with a total leasable area of 124,500 sq m were delivered in Bucharest during 2022, half compared to the previous year.
According to JLL, deliveries of office buildings will remain low in 2023, reaching around 104,000 sq m.
The most important projects in the pipeline for 2023 are the second phase of One United Properties' Cotroceni Park, phase 2 of U-Center and the A1 building of the @Expo complex.
"Occupiers face an increasingly need to transform as well as a difficult balance of cost pressures. At the same time, refurbished office space will be required if the market is to meet demand for Net Zero Carbon buildings" said Madalina Iconaru, Consultant Office Agency at JLL Romania.
Rents were maintained in the fourth quarter of 2022 at the same level as in the previous quarter, with prime rent remaining at 19 euro ($20.7) per sq m per month. Further rent increases are possible in the first part of 2023 due to inflation indexation, JLL added.
($=0.9201 euro)