About five million square feet of office space has been absorbed during first quarter (Q1) of 2016 (January – March) - a drop of approximately 26 per cent year-on-year, according to CBRE’s India Office MarketView.

Following a particularly strong fourth quarter of 2015, the first-quarter of 2016 was comparatively sluggish as most corporate space occupiers were still strategising their real estate plans for the year, with limited transaction decisions being implemented in the first-quarter.

The report said, corporate real estate space take-up during the quarter was led by Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) with a share of 31 per cent of total transacted space in the leading cities, followed by Mumbai (23 per cent) and Bangalore (17 per cent).

Corporate occupier interest remained concentrated towards prominent micro-markets such as Gurgaon in Delhi NCR; Thane, Navi Mumbai, Vikhroli, Goregaon and Andheri in Mumbai; Koramangla, Whitefield and Electronic City in Bangalore; IT Corridor in Hyderabad; and Viman Nagar in Pune.

Occupiers were also seen pre-committing space in under-construction developments, primarily in Mumbai and Gurgaon, largely led by the lack of available space in investment-grade developments at prime locations.

Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and Managing Director of CBRE, South Asia said, “While the first-quarter of the year traditionally witnesses muted transaction activity, the overall sentiment among India’s corporate space occupiers is optimistic. Besides, India continues to remain one of the global key outsourcing destinations which will improve the momentum going forward.”

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