Tokyo Office Leasing Q3/2021(Savills)

The rapid vaccine rollout, increasing corporate profits, and limited supply should give the market some much needed breathing room.

• The lukewarm market sentiment continued to weigh on office rents and vacancy in the central five wards (C5W) this quarter.
• Average Grade A office market rents in the C5W fell 2.2% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 8.2% year-on-year (YoY), and now stand at JPY34,370 per tsubo per month.
• The average Grade A office vacancy rate in the C5W increased by 0.8 percentage points (ppts) QoQ and 1.8ppts YoY to 2.5% in Q3/2021.
• Average large-scale Grade B office rents declined to JPY26,106 per tsubo per month – a contraction of 2.5% QoQ and 8.4% YoY.
• The average vacancy rate in the Grade B market loosened by 0.5ppts QoQ and 2.3ppts YoY to 3.3%.
• With the rapid vaccination rollout, strong corporate profit growth and limited supply until 2023, market sentiment should begin to stabilise or even improve.
• The poor performance of less accessible and older offices remains a drag on the office market overall. Meanwhile, tenant preferences for easily accessible and new offices persist.

This article was originally published in https://www.savills.com.hk/