Gross leasing of office space up 8% to 158 lakh sq ft in Apr-Jun in top 6 cities: Colliers

New Delhi: Gross leasing of office space is estimated to have risen 8 per cent annually during the April-June quarter across six major cities on better demand especially in Mumbai, according to Colliers.

Gross leasing of office space is estimated at 15.8 million (158 lakh) square feet during April-June as against 14.6 million square feet in the year-ago period.

Real estate consultant Colliers India said that gross absorption or leasing does not include lease renewals, pre-commitments and deals where only a letter of Intent has been signed.

Out of the six major cities, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad saw higher demand this quarter while the leasing activities in Chennai, Delhi-NCR and Pune remained subdued.

According to the data, the gross leasing of office space in Bengaluru is estimated to have risen 41 per cent to 4.8 million square feet in April-June this year from 3.4 million square feet in the year-ago period.

In Hyderabad, the leasing is up 73 per cent to 2.6 million square feet from 1.5 million square feet.

Office space leasing in Mumbai more than doubled to 3.5 million square feet from 1.6 million square feet.

However, the demand in Chennai is estimated to have fallen by 39 per cent to 2 million square feet from 3.3 million square feet.

The office demand in Delhi-NCR too is seen falling 39 per cent to 1.9 million square feet from 3.1 million square feet.

The leasing of office space in Pune is estimated to have declined 41 per cent to 1 million square feet during April-June 2024 from 1.7 million square feet in the corresponding period of the previous year.

"The demand for quality office spaces continues to surge, reflecting the confidence of occupiers and investors alike. Anticipated easing of global financial headwinds and continued resilience in domestic economy augurs well for sustained growth in India's office market," said Arpit Mehrotra, Managing Director, Office Services, India, Colliers.

He highlighted that the office demand in January-June 2024 has risen 19 per cent to 29.4 million square feet from 24.8 million square feet in the year-ago period. "A strong H1 (January-June) performance in has set the tone for office space demand to comfortably surpass 50 million square feet for the third consecutive time in 2024," Mehrotra said.

Colliers report stated that technology and engineering & manufacturing remained the front runners during Q2 2024, accounting for almost half of the total demand during the quarter.

Flexible office space or coworking operators took on lease 2.6 million square feet across the top 6 cities, the highest in any quarter, the consultant added.