July 26 (SeeNews) - The outsourcing sector was the main driver of demand for office space in the Bulgarian capital Sofia in the first half of the year, as the share of the sector increased to 67% of all transactions, real estate consultants Colliers International said.
The share of outsourcing companies rose by 7 percentage points compared to the first half of last year and by 14 percentage points compared to the like period of 2015, Colliers said in an office market overview.
Demand for office space in Sofia remained stable in the first six months of the year, as net absorption increased to 49,000 sq m from 43,000 sq m in the same period last year.
Office vacancy rate fell to 10.2% in the period under review from 13.7% in the first half of last year.
Projects comprising 90,000 sq m of new office space are expected to be completed by the end of the year. According to the real estate consultants, a considerable part of that space has been already leased out.
Interest in other large Bulgarian cities such as Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas and Veliko Tarnovo is expected to become more distinctive, Colliers added.