Office rental rates declined 14.5 pct in Q1

By Nikos Roussanoglou

Rental rates for offices in Athens posted a fresh year-on-year decline of 14.5 percent in the first quarter of 2014, according to a survey conducted by certified surveyors Geoaxis.

The survey found that the slide in enterprises’ willingness to launch or expand new activities is continuing to have a very negative impact on rental levels.

Downward pressure is also seen resulting from the trend of renegotiating existing lease rates, as well as enterprises’ continued efforts to reduce the space allocated to each employee by moving to smaller office buildings.

Top-pick spaces, comprising detached office buildings complete with their own parking lots, showed the greatest rental rate decline along Vouliagmenis Avenue, south of the center of Athens, amounting to 20.5 percent on an annual basis, as the average rental rate came to 8.3 euros per square meter per month, from 10.5 euros/sq.m. a year earlier.

Kifissias Avenue saw a 15.3 percent drop, with its rates at 10.6 euros/sq.m. today. The slide in the city center was smaller, as Kolonaki has witnessed a 10.7 percent decrease and Syntagma 10 percent.