HONG KONG S prime office rents, the world s highest, jumped more than a third in 2010 with tenants paying almost double the cost in the City of London, according to Colliers International Research.
Prime office buildings in Hong Kong fetched US$2,066.35 per square meter as of Dec. 31, 2010, compared with US$1,523.31 a year ago, Colliers said in its Global Office Real Estate Review. London s West End was the second-most expensive, costing US$1,431.82 a square meter, while the City of London was fifth at US$1,073.92 a square meter. Tokyo and Paris were in third and fourth place, at US$1,130.21 and US$1,099.53 respectively.
All of the top 20 cities tracked by Colliers recorded higher office rents in the second half. Office construction is highest in the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for 42 percent of global building, driven by growth in demand, particularly in China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, Colliers said.
Most regions showed further signs that the worst of the global financial crisis had passed and tenants were back in the market with a renewed appetite for office space, Ross J. Moore, chief economist of Colliers U.S. division, wrote in the report. The outlook for 2011 is for continued growth, but the recent surge in energy prices and the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and North Africa are reasons for concern.
Higher oil prices could derail what appears to be a reasonably strong recovery, Moore said. However, because of the usual lags, any future deceleration won t be apparent until the second half of the year. (SD-Agencies)
