Tech & IT-BPM sector accounted for the largest share at 38%. Flexible workspaces (co-working) has contributed close to 30% of office leasing. The demand for space was not only led for foreign players, but also home-grown operators who are rushing to capture a pie of this space. The absorption by flexi-operators will pick up pace in the wake of developers jumping onto the bandwagon.
Gross leasing activity is recorded at 50 million square feet in 2018, highest in last eight years driven by buoyant leasing in Bengaluru and NCR. Compared to the previous year, gross leasing increased by 17% as occupiers continued to expand and consolidate. The top 3 sectors contributing to gross leasing were IT-ITeS with 43%, flexible workplaces with 14% and BFSI with 12% share.
Indian cities witnessed a strong office demand in Q2 2018, with about 12.6 million sq ft of gross absorption recorded, indicating a 10% QoQ growth in office leasing activity.
As per Colliers International, the overall absorption for H1 2018 now stands at ~ 24 million sq ft. Bengaluru (Bangalore) continued to account for the highest share of absorption at 34% in Q2, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) at 28%, Mumbai at 14%, Hyderabad and Chennai at 8% each, Pune at 6%, and Kolkata at 2%.
With about 10 million sq ft (0.9 million sq m) of office leasing in Q3, gross absorption totalled around 28.9 million sq ft (2.7 million sq m) over the first nine months.
Despite delayed implication of demonetisation and recent layoffs by technology companies, due to automation and changing technology, commercial market continued to remain resilient, backed by sustained expansion plans of the major occupiers. The Gross office take-up in India amounted to 9.6 mn sq ft (882,800 sq m) in Q2 2017 representing a nominal 2% increase Q-o-Q from 9.3 mn sq ft (Total office absorption in H1 2017 stands at ~18.9 mn sq ft, as per Colliers Research marginally down by 2% from, H1 2016)
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The IT/ITeS sector has clearly been driving corporate real estate in the country; and consequently, much of the development in this space is being propelled by IT and back-office demand for workspaces, as per CBRE’s India report – Real Estate & Workplace Strategies of Shared Services Occupiers.
In the evaluation of sustainability of a housing market, the absorption of office space is the prime indicator across the world. After all, it is the economic activity and the job magnet that fuels the demand for new houses. The city of Mumbai has always been blessed on that count due to demand and supply dynamics.