Demand for office space in Budapest grew significantly in Q4 2015, while the vacancy rate reached a new record low of 12.1%. Development activity was low in the last quarter of the year, the annual supply in 2015 was 50,885 sq m, 25.4% lower than in 2014.

The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for the fourth quarter of 2015. Gross take-up amounted to 161,800 sq m, representing an increase of 78% compared to the previous quarter and the strongest quarterly result ever recorded on Prague office market. Also on a positive note, the vacancy rate decreased by 1.8 percentage points to 14.6% when compared to the previous quarter.

Europe’s prime office market vacancy rate is expected to fall back to its 2009 level by the end of 2016 and then to continue declining over the rest of the decade, according to global real estate advisor, CBRE. In Europe’s major cities, office development is not keeping pace with growing demand driven by improving employment trends and almost all key office markets are expected to show falling vacancy rates and accelerated rental growth over the next five years.

Rents on the Budapest office market are set to rise according to Cushman & Wakefield, involved with leasing more space than any other agent in the market. The continued recovery is driven by sound economic, demand and supply fundamentals.

Ghelamco Poland has signed a record-breaking agreement for the lease of office space at Warsaw Spire. The new tenant will take nearly 22,000 square metres in the A-class building whose occupancy rate has now soared to over 50%.