New | China office rents slip amid new projects
Slowing economy is likely to drag down growth in mainland's leasing market
Seven of 16 cities tracked by the SCMP-DTZ China office rental index recorded a decline in the first quarter, plagued by the completion of new projects.
Among the eight that saw growth, two recorded an increase of below 1 per cent, with Guangzhou rising to 97.91 from 97.7 in the fourth quarter of last year and Dalian edging up to 103.7 from 102.84. Chengdu is the only city that saw no change in the index.
"The key reason for the downward trend in rents is the wave of new office projects that have recently entered these markets," said Andrew Ness, the head of research for China with DTZ.
"The office leasing market in Changsha provides the best example to demonstrate how new project launches have acted to drag average grade A rental levels downwards in some second-tier cities."
The Wuyi area saw the launch of a project by Dalian Wanda Group in the quarter, which added 230,000 square metres of new space to the market. This led to a gain of nearly 51 per cent in grade A stock in Changsha.
