Jones Lang Lasalle: In July, Grade A office buildings recorded positive net absorption for four consecutive months, but the rental decline continues

Jones Lang Lasalle released a report indicating that the overall Grade A office leasing market recorded a positive net absorption of 189,500 square feet in July, marking four consecutive months of positive absorption since April. The office vacancy rate showed slight improvement, with the overall vacancy rate for offices slightly falling to 13.4% by the end of July. Most submarket vacancy rates saw a decline, with the vacancy rates in Eastern Hong Kong Island and Eastern Kowloon dropping to 13.4% and 20.2%, respectively. However, the Wan Chai/Causeway Bay area recorded negative absorption, with the vacancy rate rising to 9.6%.

However, the firm noted that the decline in office rents continued, with overall Grade A office rents falling by 0.5% month-on-month in July. The most significant drop was in Eastern Hong Kong Island, which fell by 2.6%, followed by Eastern Kowloon, which saw a slight decrease of 0.7%. Central experienced a slight decline of 0.2%