The dominance of Asia in the world’s most expensive office locations continues, as Hong Kong-Central remains the highest priced market and four other Asian markets populate the top five, according to CBRE Global Research and Consulting's semi-annual Prime Office Occupancy Costs survey.
Hong Kong–Central’s overall occupancy costs of US$235.23 per sq. ft. per year has topped the “most expensive” list for the third consecutive time. London’s West End followed with total occupancy costs of US$222.58. Beijing’s Finance Street, Beijing’s Jianguomen CBD and New Delhi’s Connaught Place CBD rounded out the top five.
Other Asia-Pacific markets in the top 10 include Hong Kong-West Kowloon (6th) and Tokyo (Marunouchi/Otemachi) (8th). New York’s Midtown Manhattan (10th) has returned to the top 10 markets for the first time since early 2012, joined by Moscow (7th) and London’s City (9th).
Globally, occupancy costs rose 1.4 percent on a year-over-year basis as modest growth in the Americas and Asia Pacific was partly offset by a slight decrease in recessionary Europe. However, the modest global average uptick masked significant increases in markets like Jakarta, Indonesia and suburban Houston, Texas, which posted increases of 38.9 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively.
CBRE tracks occupancy costs for prime office space in 127 markets around the globe. Of the top 50 “most expensive” markets, 21 are in Asia-Pacific, 18 are in EMEA and 11 in the Americas.