Office rentals recorded their first upturn since July 1994 in the third quarter of this year, according to real estate consultancy Jones Lang Wootton (JLW), which has released its October edition of the JLW Property Index.
Sam Whiffin, Pacific director of JLW's Hong Kong commercial department, said: 'There are strong signs that office rentals have bottomed out during the third quarter with decreased vacancies and improved demand,' However, he said transaction volumes remained relatively low due to the limited availability of large units in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui.
The office rental index was set at a base of 100 points in January, 1984. The overall index increased by 1.1 per cent in the third quarter compared to the first quarter, and the capital value index rose 2.2 per cent during the same period.
Mr Whiffin said office rentals had been consolidating since early this year with the backdrop of improved market sentiment.
Only 640,000 square feet net of new office space was completed in the first nine months of the year compared to 2.9 million sq ft net last year.
Vacancies in Central fell to 4.7 per cent in October from 5.9 per cent in January and to 9.8 per cent from 13.3 per cent in Tsim Sha Tsui.