Office rents in Central appear to have bottomed out, following seven months of decline, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. In its October Property Index, which indicates movement of property rentals and prices, the property consultancy said the momentum in the office market was changing. ''The office market in Central appears to be bottoming out,' said Tim Bellman, director of research and consultancy at Jones Lang LaSalle. 'In the third quarter, effective rents were broadly unchanged after seven consecutive quarters of decline,' he said. Capital values rose 3.7 per cent in the third quarter and had rebounded more than 8 per cent from the first quarter's low point, Mr Bellman said. International director Samuel Whiffin said the past 18 months' take-up levels had been very strong at 3.5 million square feet. The strong response was due to tenants taking advantage of excellent commercial terms available on new Grade A developments. 'These opportunities are now more limited and we can already see signs that effective rents are moving up again,' Mr Whiffin said. Jones Lang LaSalle said as two key buildings - Cheung Kong Center and One International Finance Centre - approached full occupancy, landlords were looking to trim incentives. It said property investment sentiment improved further in the third quarter despite concern on the outlook for interest rates. There were some notable whole-floor office and en-bloc residential transactions in the quarter, mainly involving international buyers. These include the sale of the 39th floor of Tower II at Lippo Tower which was sold for $78 million and the 20th floor of 9 Queen's Road Central which went for $90 million.