SKY SEEMS TO BE THE LIMIT FOR INDIA’S PROPERTY MARKET
Strong economics cues, rise in corp occupancies boost market by 29%
The Indian office property market has demonstrated robust performance in the first half of the year, driven by a resurgence in economic activity and a notable increase in corporate occupancies, reflecting the sector’s resilience and the overall positive business environment. Steered by technology and banking, financial services and insurance activity-related global capability centres (GCCs) marked a strong return in the second quarter, taking the performance of January-June to a record high.
The office market surged to its best-ever first half with gross leasing of 33.5 million sq ft, up 29% from a year ago, surpassing the previous first-half record performance of 30.71 million sq ft seen in 2019, showed data from JLL India. Each of the last 4 consecutive quarters have exceeded the 15 million sq ft leasing-mark and indicate the potential for 2024 to esablish a new peak, surpassing historic highs seen in 2023.
Earlier record for gross leasing was 30.71 million sq ft seen in first half of 2019, says JLL India
“In a period of global sluggishness, the India office market remained resilient given its underlying fundamentals,” said Rahul Arora, head (office leasing & retail services), India, JLL. “The same factors have come ‘together to create a period of sustained growth, with India at forefront of global firms’ real estate decisions and strategies. Strong domestic economy parameters also fuelling space take-up by local firms. The India office growth story is strongly supported by the remarkable growth shown by GCCs in Q2.” According to Arora, India’s leadership position in the GCC ecosystem continues to remain intact, driven by high-end research and development work that supports headcount expansion opportunities for these firms, resulting in strong space demand. He expects gross office leasing in 2024 to be at a new all-time high of 65-70 million sq ft.
The gross leasing in Q2 was up 21.3% sequentially at 18.38 million sq ft. The last 4 consecutive quarters have exceeded the 15 million sq ft-mark in gross lea- sing volumes, underpinning strong momentum in office market. With a 42.6% share of total leasing during the quarter, GCCs continue to remain the dominant occupier group, accounting for over one-third of gross leasing activity in 2024.
Source – Economic Times
