Knight Frank has developed an office market summary report of the first quarter of 2013 in the capital and regional cities. According to him, there has been a slight increase in vacancy rates in Warsaw, due to its high demand, and the level of uptake of new office space in the city was close to the last quarter. The strong activity of tenants and a significant amount of supply was observed in the regional markets.
Warsaw
The first quarter of the year was recognized for four office projects, which together provided the capital's market with 73 800 sq.m., and currently, the overall level of office space in the capital stands at 3.21 million sq.m., according to Knight Frank's report. In the course of implementation, there is currently approximately 493 000 sqm, of which 49% should be brought into use in 2013. The planned area of 350 000 sqm received the building permission.
Worthy of note is the high level of activity of tenants in the market. Contracts of 155 000 sqm surface have been concluded in the first quarter, in which 40% are counted as new agreements. Most of the signed deals were not larger than 1 000 sq.m. The most active tenants in Warsaw are the companies from the financial sector, IT and professional services. Particularly attractive areas of the capital were the City Centre (Central Business Area), Służewiec Przemyslowy and Wola. The level of vacancy is 11.9 %.
The average rental rate on the office market in the capital amounted to 17.3 Euros/sqm per month. In the best locations, prices ranged from 19 to 28 Euros/sqm per month, while class B buildings offer surfaces for 9-21 Euro/sqm per month.
Krakow
There has been no increase in the average rate in the first quarter, in the capital of Little Poland but still the city remains the leader among regional markets, typical office surface at 515 800 sq.m. The consecutive quarters of 2013 will produce about 26 000 sq.m. of a new surface.
The tenants signed contracts for about 25 000 sq.m. of office space. The experts predict that this level of activity is likely to remain, meaning that new office spaces are quickly absorbed by the market, without leading to an increase in the vacancy level. The demand in Krakow is mainly generated by banking, insurance, investment advice and IT companies. The vacancy rate has a decreasing trend, which currently ranks at 4.1%.
Average rates of rents in Krakow remained stable at 13.8 Euros/sqm per month. The most expensive locations offer spaces for prices from 13 to 15 Euro/sqm, while the class B-between 10 and 13 Euro/sqm.
Wroclaw
At the beginning of the year, Wroclaw was given 38 900 sq.m., and the overall level of the surface increased to 434 000 sq.m. There is about 48 000 sqm under construction, based on seven investments, of which 32 700 sq.m. is to be completed in 2013.
Rental value dropped slightly compared to the previous quarter. The demand peaked at 13 000 sq.m. Vacancy level amounted to 9.8%, which shows a gradual rising trend.
The rent in Wroclaw has reached an average level of 13.5 Euro/sqm per month, while the rate in Class A buildings ranged from 14 to 16.5 Euro/sqm.
Tricity
There were two projects delivered in the first quarter in Tricity, which increased the level of the office space to 292 100 sq.m. There are four investments to be brought into the market, a total of about 52 000 sq.m., of which 23 700 sqm will be completed in the current year.
The tenants have signed contracts for the 12 600 sqm, which means a 50% increase, compared with the last quarter. Vacancy rate, however, rose to the level of 15.1%, which was caused by the significant increase in supplying. The average rent's rate amounted to 13.5 Euro/sqm per month, where in the most expensive locations/areas the rate was between 12 and 16 Euros/sqm.
Lodz
Office space resources in place at 259 600 sq.m. In 2013, projected an increase in this index by about 15 900 sq.m. Tenants signed a lease transactions for 7 500 sq.m, which accounted for the decline in value of vacancy rate, which reached 22 percent. The city is characterized by the lowest average rate of rents among all the cities of the region - 11 euro/sqm per month, and at the premises of the top class the prices range from 12 to 14,5 euro/sqm.
Poznan
Poznan is recognized by office surfaces of 251 000 sq.m. There is currently under construction 61 100 sq.m. Transaction volume in the first quarter of 2013 is similiar to the levels recorded in previous periods, which means that is the lowest among the cities. The city shows the highest vacancy rate at approximately 17.8%. The best locations rates show between 13 to 16 Euro/sqm per month.
Katowice
Thanks to the delivery of new office project in the first quarter of 2013 in Katowice, the level of office space increased to 205 000 sq.m. However the other significant projects are not expected to be completed by the end of the year. 19 300 sqm, were let at the beginning of the year, of which as many as 70% of contracts were pre - let. There has been an increase in vacancy rate to 10%, the average rate of rents reached 12.9 Euro/sqm per month, while the prices for Class A buildings amounted from 12 to 16 Euro/sqm.
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