Despite new supply entering the market, strong leasing demand for large space requirements, from the financial and IT & High-Tech sectors, saw city-wide vacancy rates decrease by 1 percentage point (ppt) quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to 5.5%, although up by 0.6 of a ppt year-on-year (YoY).

The rapid rise of the e-commerce industry continues to fuel demand for office space in the city. Demand is mainly driven by tenants from the technology, media and telecom (TMT) sectors, with start-ups in the artificial intelligence (AI) space increasingly making headlines.

The financial technology (fintech) wave continues to revolutionise the financial industry, with big data, AI and other technologies rapidly redefining the once traditional industry. Fintech companies looking to reshape the payment value chain through mobile payment have been particularly active during the quarter.

Stable rental performance in the Beijing Financial Street and Zhongguancun precincts, combined with an increase in rents, in the gradually maturing Wangjing and Asia-Olympic submarkets, offset the impact of the rental decline in the CBD and other areas. As a result, overall average rent posted the first increase, after four consecutive quarters of decline, up by 0.2% QoQ to RMB338.2 per sq m per month, though still down by 0.3% YoY.

With the rise of intelligent building design and the growing importance placed on work-life balance, traditional office space will continue to be upgraded. Landlords will look to transform their projects in order to attract tenants. While faced with high rents, tenants themselves will be innovative as they work to achieve greater efficiency and flexibility for their space.

Similar to this:

Buy a Hong Kong apartment, get a free Tesla​

MAD architects' organic-shaped Harbin Opera House opens in China

“Houses are built to be inhabited, not for speculation” President Xi