Office rents way down in Ho Chi Minh City

January 19, 2011 | 13:49

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The average rent for an office in Ho Chi Minh City decreased by 9.1 per cent last year, according to CBRE Vietnam.

Bitexco Financial Tower will provide 38,000 square metres of offices for rent

During the fourth quarter of 2010, the rent of Grade A offices fell by 4.5 per cent to $35 per square metre, including offices of the two newly-launched Vincom Centre and Bitexco Financial Tower projects, said Rudolf Hever, Associate Director of Research & CBRE Vietnam.

Over the course of the year the rent of Grade A offices declined by 13.2 per cent, and up to 39 per cent of these spaces have remained vacant.

The downtrend in the rent was seen in B and C grade office spaces as well. In the fourth quarter, the rent of grade B offices was down by 2.4 per cent compared to the third, to $19.55 per square metre per month. Grade C offices witnessed a decline of 3.9 per cent, leaving the monthly rent at $16.25 per square metre.

The whole year witnessed an 11.2 per cent drop in rent of grade B offices, and grade C offices fell by 11.9 per cent against the previous year.

CBRE Vietnam also forecasted that the office rent in Ho Chi Minh City would continue to be on the same downtrend as big cities in Asia, such as Shanghai and Beijing where offer a price of between $31 and $33 per square metre a month.

CBRE, however, remains optimistic about the area leased in 2010, estimated at 227,000 square metres, up 50 per cent from 2009. Grade C offices saw the highest growth.

By mid-October 2010, the city had more than 150 office buildings at all grades, offering around one million square meters of office spaces, grade B office dominating, with a 50 per cent market share.

Dtinews

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