Athens offices see rents rise up to 11 pct

Modern office lease contracts in Athens have seen rental hikes of up to 11 percent in the last 12 months as a result of the steadily high demand by corporations and mainly the considerable shortage in new developments, forcing businesses to seek spaces in the existing stock of commercial properties.

New office space under development does not exceed 65,000 square meters in total, and much of this already has leaseholders lined up, at least on a provisional contract level.

According to data from Proprius, which represents US company Cushman & Wakefield in Greece, the biggest rate increase after the first quarter of the year was recorded in office buildings near Syntagma Square in central Athens. Posting 11.1 percent annual growth, the average monthly rent comes to 20 euros per sq.m. Of course this remains far below the rates recorded before the outbreak of the financial crisis a decade ago, when rental rates came up to 30 euros/sq.m.

Notably, there is also a lack of contracts for office spaces over 4,000 sq.m., probably because of the shortage in the appropriate properties.

Source: ekathimerini.com