From January to March 2021, commissioning of offices in Moscow reached 309.5 thousand square meters. This represents a 454% increase of the new supply year-over-year. More than that, this quarter’s volume is 38% higher compared to the total of the whole previous year.
The share of class “A” spaces within the new supply amounted to 67%, the remaining 33% were class “B”.
The total amount of high quality office spaces on the Moscow market reached 17.3 million sq. m, up by 2.8% in annual terms. Of this volume, 28% are class “A”, while the remaining 72% are class “B”.
As to the vacancy rate at the end of the quarter, this indicator reached 12% in the offices of class “A” and 6% in those of class “B”. Despite the large size of newly commissioned objects, there is no significant increase in the vacancy rate on the market, since most of the new offices are built for corporations or government agencies and aren’t entering the speculative market.
The office real estate market is recovering strongly after the record lows of the 2020 pandemic year, successfully overcoming previous uncertainty and reduced developer activity. The market supply of new or renovated office spaces is a key factor shaping the market potential for professional office furniture, in short to medium terms. We are tracking this indicator more closely, including particular office buildings and business centers commissioned and under construction, within our extended Market Reports.