Bangkok--Aug 15--CB Richard Ellis
Bangkok is the tenth cheapest city in the world to rent office space according to the latest CB Richard Ellis Global Market Rents survey. Bangkok ranked 165 out of 174 cities surveyed.
London’s West End remained the most expensive office location (6,598 baht per square metre per month), almost 40% more expensive than Inner-Central Tokyo and eleven times more expensive than Bangkok. Christchurch, New Zealand, is the cheapest city in the world to rent offices (488 baht per square metre per month), but it is only 20% cheaper than Bangkok.
The United Kingdom remains one of the most expensive countries in the world for office accommodation with seven cities, including London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Bristol in the top twenty most expensive global office locations.
Even though Bangkok has seen a 24.5% increase in grade A office rents over the last twelve months, other countries have also seen similar rental growth which means Bangkok’s global position has not changed significantly.
Average grade A office rents are now over 600 baht per square metre in Bangkok’s Central Business District.
Rents in grade B buildings have also risen rapidly, increasing by 21.5% year on year. Bangkok rents have now surpassed their previous record highs which were seen in 1991. However, in US dollar terms rents are still below their previous record highs.
Only three major buildings will be completed in the next twelve months. Q. House Lumpini, The Column Tower, and Exchange Tower, totalling less than 130,000 square metres.
CB Richard Ellis has already recorded net take up of 180,000 square metres in the first two quarters of 2005 and expect that total new net take up for the year will exceed 300, 000 square metres.
“With the limited amount of new supply in Bangkok and a continued growth in demand, we expect to see continued increases in rents and low vacancy rates”, said Mr. James Pitchon, Executive Director at CB Richard Ellis Thailand. End.