Office leasing fees continue sliding

VietNamNet Bridge – Office leasing fees have dropped to $20-60 per sq m and they are predicted to continue sliding in the time to come.

CBRE, a real estate consultancy firm, on June 11 said that the percentage of unoccupied offices for lease now accounts for 15 percent of the HCM City market, but the figure may be double by the end of the year.

CBRE said that the A-class leasing fee has dropped by 30-50 percent in the last six months, returning to the level of 2006.

In the first quarter of the year, the highest leasing fee was $70 per sq m, and then decreased to $65/sq m and now to $60 per month. The current office leasing fees are hovering between $20-60, while they once surged to over $100 per sq m a month.

CBRE said that clients have become those who regulate the deals instead of the owners of buildings, due to oversupply and low demand. According to the firm, the total area of idle offices and new offices is now at 113,970 sq m.

Some new office buildings which have just been put into operation in HCM City have applied new policies, offering free leasing of offices for a certain time in an effort to lure clients to old office buildings. Moreover, it also offers other privileges, like exempting parking fees or fees for posting sign plates. In some cases, the owners of buildings pay the money for office decoration for clients.

With the preferences, clients can also save relatively big sums of money. For example, in principle, enterprises have to pay $1,500-2,500 for the right to post sign plates at A-class office buildings, while parking fees may reach several thousand dollars.

VietnamNet/VNE