The Chennai office market has shown absorption of 1.10 million sq.ft. in Q1 FY13, according to property consultant Knight Frank India.
It was 1.20 million sqft in Q1 FY12. However, there has been an improvement over Q4 FY12 when 0.90 million sqft was taken up.
The agency said the share of IT/ ITeS dropped 27 per cent, while the banking, finance and other sectors strengthened.
In Q1FY12, of the 1.20 million sqft taken up, about 75 per cent was absorbed by the IT/ITeS sector. This declined to about 48 per cent of the total office space transacted in Q1 FY13.
The drop in the IT/ITeS sector absorption may be attributed primarily to the inability of the economies of the North American and European countries to revive in line with expectations, said Dr Samantak Das, Director, Research and Advisory Services, Knight Frank India.
The sectoral distribution in Q1 FY12 showed the emergence of other industries such as engineering. Other sectors such as media, telecom, aviation, automobile and consulting which contributed to about 13 per cent in Q1 FY 2012 rose to 22 per cent in Q1 FY13. The BFSI sector, which was six per cent in Q1 FY12, increased to eight per cent in Q1 FY 13.
Dr Das said the Chennai office market has moved from being absolutely IT/ITeS dominated to acquiring a more diversified occupier base. The emergence of newer sectors augur well the city’s office market.