Real estate consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield Echinox believes that the first signs of a come-back for the office market were already visible in the first quarter of this year (Q1), implying that the worst is over for this segment of the real estate market.

"We consider that the first three months of this current year have brought positive signs," said Madalina Cojocaru, Partner, Office Agency, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

The volume of leasing transactions on the Bucharest office market reached 48,000 square meters in the first quarter of 2021, 9% less compared to the same period of the previous year. However, this comes after a 40% annual plunge in the volume seen in the second half of last year.

Moreover, the share of pre-lease contracts increased from 20% to 46% (of the total volume), which shows that some companies have outlined their post-pandemic working policy and are now able to make decisions for the medium and long term.

In this context, the office spaces vacancy rate (contractual) is 13.5%, with a significant difference between A-class (10.7%) and B-class (22.1%) office buildings.

Despite the employees' gradual return to offices, the actual utilization rate of the office spaces in Bucharest remains relatively low, at about 40-50%, according to C&W Echinox, given that most companies prefer to continue their Work from Home or hybrid systems.

andrei@romania-insider.com

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