Commercial Real Estate Office Spacing Leasing Continues to Go Strong - A Quick Guide

Commercial real estate is gaining momentum and is witnessing healthy demand, especially in the office space segment.

Guidance on How to Lease Office Real Estate | Commercial Real Estate Property

This is supported by the fact that according to Cushman & Wakefield India’s recent office leasing report, the ‘Commercial office market is witnessing a robust streak’.

It is buoyed by optimistic prospects and strengthening business confidence given the country is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

As compared to figures from the previous year, office leasing registered strong gains of 15 percent at 33 million square feet across the top eight cities of India, from January-September.

Also, provided the adequate supply in the office segment, rent drives the demand. Gurugram and Noida which comprise the NCR region currently have a vacancy at about 29 million square feet which is likely to keep rentals in check.

Not to forget the future supply is expected to keep pace with incremental demand, as per the report.

In recent times, while Noida has turned into an affordable commercial real estate hub where you get the best commercial property on lease, Gurugram would continue to be the largest and most expensive office market in the NCR as per a Colliers Research report.

For occupiers seeking sub-one-dollar office space, Noida has been an affordable option, states the report.

The average rent that developers quote in Noida is about Rs 57 per square foot per month notes the report titled ‘Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida - The Three Aces: Key Opportunities in the NCR Office Market".

As compared to rentals quoted by Grade A office buildings in Gurugram, the average rent in Noida as per the report is almost 35 percent cheaper than Rs 88 per square foot per month.

For cost-conscious backend IT companies looking for affordable rents and excellent connectivity with Delhi, the Noida market has historically been the preference, notes the report.

That is evidenced by the fact that Noida accounted for roughly 29 percent of the total demand of the overall leasing volume in the NCR over the past five years.

Further, as compared to 2017’s first quarter demand, 2018’s first quarter witnessed double the demand with one million sq ft of absorption. In the upcoming years, the city will also be host to multinationals, as per the extensive report.

For Gurugram, the report mentioned that over the past five years, it has been capturing about 60 percent of the total regional office demand.

This made many companies shift their corporate offices from swanky localities in South Delhi and Connaught Place to Gurugram for Grade-A office spaces that offer good connectivity to the international airport as well as other business districts, and at affordable rents.

This has been a trend since the 2008 global financial crisis. The city has become a favorite with the corporation as the corporation expands owing to the expansion the city.

The question now arises by the best commercial builders is whether continuous and stable demand in the commercial real estate sector can have a positive bearing on demand in residential real estate.

Though since 2013-14, there was a free fall in the residential segment, things have started settling down since the beginning of 2018, as per experts from the industry. They, further state that the buyers’ confidence is still very low in the residential segment because of various issues and it will take at least two years to get back that confidence before any substantial demand is expected.

The price in the residential real estate market is not expected to increase for some time now and buyers have the requisite time to do the due diligence to choose a suitable property.