July 25 (SeeNews) - The IT sector and the providers of business process outsourcing services were the main drivers of demand for office space in Sofia in the first six months of 2019, Forton, a strategic partner of Cushman&Wakefield for Bulgaria and Macedonia, said.
By the end of June, deals for a total of 66,783 sq m of office space were closed on the Bulgarian market - mostly unchanged compared to the same period of 2018, Forton said in its latest report published on its website.
Office buildings with a total area of 404,000 sq m are currently in construction, while a significant amount of space is in planning phase, it added.
Since the beginning of the year, almost 107,000 sq m of Class A and B offices have been completed, ranking the period among the most active historically, Forton said.
The vacancy rate in Sofia reached 9.9% by the end of the first half.
"Increasing development will improve the availability of investment grade product and growth of the liquidity is anticipated in mid-to-long turn," Forton said in its outlook.