Growth in office take-up continues

Thanks to a strong second quarter the total office take-up volume in the first half of 2015 resulted in approximately 483,000 sq m, a 9.7% increase compared to H1 2014. According to CBRE figures, Amsterdam remains responsible for the largest demand for office space with almost a quarter of the total take-up. Rotterdam showed the largest increase in take-up, with Alexander a noticeable outlier. The national police leased about 16,000 sq m here. In the Rotterdam central business district, the growth in demand was also strong according to CBRE's newest Office MarketView.

A striking development was the growth in take-up seen by the TMT (Technology, Media and Telecommunications) and business service sectors. They accounted for 20% and 19% of the total take-up respectively. CBRE will soon perform an extensive analysis of the TMT sector describing this and other interesting developments within the sector.

Compared to last year, activity on the investment market in the first half of 2015 remained modest. The transaction volume fell slightly to €914 million. The decrease was attributable to a lack of prime product and large-scale transactions. This year, no office building worth more than €100 million has yet been sold.

For the remainder of the year, CBRE expects a further rise in demand for office space and an upturn in the investment market. Prime single assets will remain scarce, but the ample supply of both core and value-added portfolios will stimulate activity on the investment market. Although a product type of this scope generally attracts much foreign interest, more and more Dutch parties are moving to the buyers side of the market.