On the office market, 2019 will be a record year in terms of new deliveries from Bucharest, the announced volume being 333,500 sqm, more than double the projects completed in 2018.

Although there were new deliveries both in the second quarter and in the first quarter, the vacancy rate decreased slightly from 8%, to 7.5%, given that the completed buildings were occupied by 80-90% or even 100% in some cases, such as Renault Bucharest Connected and The Mark.

Therefore, the new buildings did not contribute too much to the volume of vacant spaces. On the other hand, demand was strong in the first half, with no major relocations, except for Renault, which moved from Pipera Nord in the western part of the city to Renault Bucharest Connected.

The office stock in Bucharest was estimated at over 2.84 million sqm at the end of June, and by the end of the year it will approach the threshold of 3 million square meters.

For the end of the year we do not expect major variation of the vacancy rate even though the projects to be completed in the second part of the year have on average 40% of the pre-rented spaces, with significant differences from case to case.

There are several large pending transactions, and if these are completed on time, the vacancy rate will be low at the time of construction completion. Therefore, new deliveries should not contribute much to the vacancy rate in the second half of the year. (source: forbes.ro)