May 9 (SeeNews) - The take-up volume on the Sofia office market increased by 4% to 36,300 sq m year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, commercial property advisers Forton, a strategic partner of Cushman&Wakefield for Bulgaria and Macedonia, said.
Companies from the IT and BPO sectors were involved in nearly 60% of the transactions during the first quarter of the year, Forton said in office market snapshot for the first three months of 2018.
"The largest transaction for the period was the pre-lease of 60K in Office Park Central - a project with 6,300 sq m office space in the broad central area," Forton added.
Expansions and pre-leases remained main driver of market activity, reflecting occupier appetite for growth and limited supply of modern office space.
"While 2017 was dominated by retail property acquisitions, investors are turning their attention to medium- and large-size office projects. The acquisition of two buildings for a total of 9.85 million euro ($11.7 million) by Hungarian developer Wingholding was among the notable transactions in the first quarter," the market snapshot read.
Rents and vacancy rate are seen to remain stable in the Sofia's office market in 2018. Together with Sofia, many tenants are looking at secondary cities for further expansion.
($ = 0.8419 euro)