Thailand-Property

Office rents continue to rise

Bangkok office rental prices grew by 0.20 percent during the period ending Q3 2015.

In the recently-released Knight Frank’s Asia-Pacific Prime Office Rental Index, Tokyo topped rental growth for the second consecutive quarter, while Bangkok continued to experience rental price hikes.

The index monitors the prime office rents in 19 cities across the Asia-Pacific region, and the Index increased 1.4 percent during Q3 2015, although the average vacancy rate inched up by just 0.1 percentage points

Ten of the 19 markets tracked experienced rental growth, while three registered no movement. Tokyo saw the highest rental growth in the region for the second consecutive quarter

Going forward, the real estate firm said that it expects rents in 13 markets to either increase or remain steady over the next 12 months.

Nicholas Holt, Head of Research for Asia-Pacific, said, “We are seeing opportunities for office occupiers in 2016. The construction boom inspired by past rental appreciation will deliver a barrage of new supply in a number of markets in Asia-Pacific.

“This presents opportunities for tenants to upgrade their workspace in order to attract and retain talent.”

Marcus Burtenshaw, (pictured), Executive Director, Head of Commercial Agency for Knight Frank Thailand added that the amount of vacant office space in Bangkok fell again in third quarter of 2015, where demand for space continued to be driven by the expansion of existing tenants.

He confirmed this has supported yet further rent hikes in the city, where the average Grade ‘A’ office rents in the central business district are now in excess of THB 810 per sqm per month.