OFFICE TAKE-UP RISES YOY DESPITE WEAK ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
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Despite the lack of economic tailwind, German office markets were still in good shape overall at the end of Q3 2024. Finishing up the past 3 quarters, take-up amounted to around 1.95 million sqm, or almost 4% above the previous year’s level (1.88 million sqm). Although letting activity in the office hubs of Berlin, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig and Munich remained below average across the board, some markets have been sending out strong signals of stabilisation and the start of a trend reversal.
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The Munich office market is still leading the nationwide ranking of Germany’s top office hubs with strong quarterly take-up results which consistently remained above previous-year levels. At the end of first three quarters of the year, take-up in the Bavarian capital amounted to 444,000 sqm or 37% year-on-year. The Munich office market was dominated by catch-up effects and strong stability with take-up falling only 15% short of the long-term average. Berlin recorded 421,000 sqm in take-up also thanks to very stable take-up activity throughout the year, putting the result on par with the previous year (-1%). Frankfurt had a very strong start to the year that was followed by two quarters with take-up each in excess of 90,000 sqm, resulting in 307,000 sqm as at the end of September. Frankfurt currently holds 3rd place nationwide and was the only office market to see take-up exceed the 5-year average (+1%). Hamburg came in fourth with 301,000 sqm registered at the end the first three quarters of 2024.