SOFIA (Bulgaria), June 11 (SeeNews) – Demand for office space in Bulgaria rose 40% in the first six months of the year driven by companies in the IT and outsourcing services sectors, commercial property advisers Forton International said on Thursday.
Over 60% of the companies seeking to rent new offices since the beginning of the year were operating in the IT and outsourcing services sectors, Forton International said in a press release.
Apart from a rise in demand for office space, there is also a marked increase in the value of deals in the past months, as companies are expanding and seeking to rent bigger offices, Stanimira Pashova, manager office space at the company, said in the press release. Companies are currently seeking to rent offices of 3,000-5,000 sq m, as compared to an average of 1,000-1,400 sq m last year, she added.
In the capital Sofia, which accounts for some 90% of the country's office space market, companies are looking to rent over 100,000 sq m of office space, Forton International also said. This has triggered the construction of 66,000 sq m of new offices, it added.
A total of 178,000 sq m of offices are under construction in Sofia, of which some 100,000 sq m will be completed by the end of the year, according to Forton's projections.
Thus, supply in the capital city is expected to balance off demand, with rent prices seen staying in the 10.5 - 12.5 euro ($11.25 - 14.0)/sq m range for class A office buildings.
In the other major cities Plovdiv, Burgas and Varna rent prices of offices stand between 6 and 8 euro/sq m.
($=0.8882 euro)