Bangkok was the strongest-performing Asia-Pacific market last quarter
Mr Marcus Burtenshaw, Executive Director and Head of Commercial Agency Department, Knight Frank Thailand, Co., Ltd., offered his opinion, saying, “Bangkok’s office market’s growth continues to be underpinned by genuine demand in a market with a limited supply of space. Tenants must be mindful that, barring any major decline in demand, this situation of ‘undersupply’ is likely to result in rental growth for at least another two years, and should prepare accordingly”
Knight Frank, the independent global property consultancy, today launches the Asia-Pacific Prime Office Rental Index for Q3 2017 report. The index increased 0.6% quarter-on-quarter and 0.8% year-on-year as at the end of the third quarter of 2017.
Results for Q3 2017
The increase in the index was the result of rising rents in 11 of the markets over the quarter, with rental declines experienced in six of the 20 markets tracked.
Bangkok was the strongest-performing Asia-Pacific market last quarter, registering a 4.4% quarter-on-quarter increase, which was faster than its 3.9% annual growth. This upward trend is expected to continue for at least the next 24 months.
Prime rents in Singapore increased for the first time since late 2014, even as vacancy rates continued to rise above 15% due to the huge supply influx in the last two quarters.
Over the next 12 months, we expect rents in 16 cities out of the 20 tracked to either remain steady or increase, up from 15 cities in our previous forecast.
Mr Nicholas Holt, Head of Research for Asia-Pacific, says, “Amidst growing market confidence and the impressive recovery of Asia’s export markets so far in 2017, leasing momentum remains broadly robust across Asia-Pacific prime office markets.”
