Asia-Pacific Prime Office Rental Index Q3 2020

The Asia-Pacific Prime Office Rental Index aims to provide occupiers, landlords and investors with a regular analysis of the rental performance of prime office markets across Asia-Pacific.

“While leasing activity has picked up in Q3 2020 as markets eased restrictions, we continue to see downward pressure on office rents and expect a similar trend to occur in the coming quarters. Going forward, with market balance now in favour of tenants, this presents opportunities for occupiers to reassess their work place strategies ahead of the eventual recovery.” 

Tim Armstrong
HEAD OF OCCUPIER SERVICES & COMMERCIAL AGENCY, ASIA PACIFIC

Q3 saw the full brunt of COVID-19’s impact on the office sector as markets across the Asia-Pacific region gradually re-opened and occupiers took stock of their corporate real estate needs. Landlords have also largely shifted their strategies and are now focusing mainly on preserving building occupancies at the expense of holding rents, with a majority now offering some form of rental rebate to either retain existing or entice new tenants. However, we believe this is only the start of a cyclical downtrend for the office sector given our expectations for more firms to downsize after finalizing their workplace strategies and landlord’s continual flexibility to rental negotiations.