Bangkok was the cheapest city for office rents in Asia this year, while Hong Kong was the most expensive, an international property consulting company said on Monday.
Out of 127 cities surveyed worldwide by the CBRE Global Research and Consulting’s semi-annual prime office occupancy costs survey, Bangkok ranked 115th, the cheapest in the Asia-Pacific region.
Central Hong Kong had the region’s and world’s highest office rents for the third year in a row, at the average rate of 235.23 dollars per square metre per month, said the survey, based on rental rates in the first quarter of 2013.
Central London’s West End ranked the second-most expensive office location worldwide, at $222.58 per square metre per month, followed by Beijing’s financial and central business districts and New Delhi’s central business district.
Central Hong Kong has managed to keep its office prices high partly because of the influx of mainland Chinese firms seeking prestigious buildings, the survey said.
Office rents in Bangkok’s central business district in the first quarter of this year actually rose 5.3 per cent year-on-year, to about $28 per square metre per month, but the increase has lagged behind price hikes seen in other Asian capitals.
Jakarta’s office rents rose 38.9 per cent while Manila’s climbed 14.9 per cent.
“Singapore experienced the largest annual decrease worldwide (down 16.3 per cent), due, in part, to increases in both new supply and the availability of lower-priced secondary space,” the CBRE report said.