Beijing remains only city from mainland China to make global ranking for top 10 most expensive office markets

Beijing, 14 January 2020 — Even as ongoing economic pressures weigh on premium office rents in China, Beijing has maintained its world-leading position as enviable rents levels hold up in two key office districts. As per JLL’s latest Global Premium Office Rent Tracker (PORT), Beijing – Finance Street and Beijing CBD are, once again, among the world’s top 10 locations with the most expensive premium office rents, ranking 3^rd and 9^th respectively.

JLL PORT (the 5^th edition), released this year, covers occupation costs across 86 major office markets in 73 cities, aiming to provide a snapshot of the exclusive world of the premium office market and a robust like-for-like comparison of the office occupation costs.

Relative to the last quarter, the rent of Beijing – Finance Street exceeds that of London – West End, rising to the 3^rd place from the joint 3^rd last year, while that of Beijing CBD falls from 6^th to 9^th. Since Shanghai dropped out of the top 10, Beijing has become the only city from mainland China to be selected as one of the world’s 10 markets with the most expensive premium office rents.

“Though economic downturns weigh on commercial real estate markets, the rent of Beijing still remains relatively healthy due to favourable market fundamentals and relatively stable office market demand. For the first time, Beijing has slipped in the global ranking, but only slightly,” says Julien Zhang, Managing Director for JLL North China. “Under the tough market conditions, the city is faring well and remains comfortably within the top 10.”

Top 10 Locations with the Most Expensive Premium Office Rent in the World

The investment prospect is promising

In the slowing economy, Beijing’s relatively high-ranking premium office rents are attracting more investors. Investors at home and abroad are still confident in the Beijing market, and the investment market remains active. The total en-block transaction volume of Beijing commercial real estate for 2019 reached nearly 80 billion RMB.

“Though Beijing’s premium office rents are negatively affected by the overall situation, the investment market is heating up,” says Mi Yang, Head of Research, North China, JLL. “Investors today devote more attention to market opportunities with the potential of value promotion. The current premium office building market still runs well in the present market conditions. In the future, the supply in Beijing will be tightened gradually, and the old building renovation projects will help enhance market performance.”

The city quality upgrade may continue

The booming investment market and investors’ growing emphasis on construction quality will also improve the overall office building management and service quality. With the gradual implementation renovation projects such as renovating old hotels and malls into office buildings, the office space and communities will be further optimized and bring greater value to the city.

In the current economic environment, Beijing’s market fundamental is stable and investment opportunities are constantly emerging. The global rank of Beijing’s premium office building rent fully illustrates that Beijing can cope well with economic pressure, which will attract more investors. This will bring more opportunities for promoting the office building market and further improve the overall city quality.

Download the Premium Office Rent Tracker report (English version) here.

Notes:

Premium office rent refers to the ‘top achievable’ in units over 10,000 square feet (or approximately 1,000 square metres) in the premium building in the premier office district of each city. In tall buildings, the middle zone is used as the benchmark. We exclude rents that represent a premium level paid for a small quantity of space or highly prestigious units where a significant premium applies.