Average rent rises 7 percent annually in April-September across 7 cities to Rs 83/sq ft/month: Anarock

Rentals for prime office spaces rose by an average 7 per cent year-on-year to 83 per square feet per month across seven major cities during the first six months of the current fiscal on rise in construction cost, according to Anarock.

Real estate consultant Anarock on Thursday released its India Office Market Update for H1 (April-September) of 2023-24 fiscal, stating that Grade A office rental values averaged at Rs 83 per square feet per month across seven major cities against Rs 77.5 per square feet in the year-ago period.

The first half of this fiscal year remained lacklustre for commercial office space activity across the top seven cities, with both net absorption and new completions remaining largely stagnant compared to the same period last year.

New office supply rose 5 per cent and net office absorption saw a marginal decline of 1 per cent during the period under review, the consultant pointed out.

"Interestingly, average rental values across the top 7 cities witnessed a 7 per cent growth in H1 FY24, as compared to the same period in FY23, essentially due to increased construction and input costs," Anarock Regional Director & Head - Research Prashant Thakur said.

During the April-September period of this fiscal, Chennai witnessed the highest 10 per cent year-on-year increase in average monthly office rental values to Rs 68 per sq ft from Rs 62 per square feet in the year-ago period.

Hyderabad saw a 8 per cent increase in average rent to Rs 66 from Rs 61 per square feet.

Bengaluru, Pune, and Kolkata each saw 7 per cent annual growth in office rent, while Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Delhi-NCR registered 5 per cent increase each.

Average monthly office rental in Bengaluru rose to Rs 90 per square feet from Rs 84 per square feet.

In Pune, the average office rental grew to Rs 79 from Rs 74 per square feet a month, while in Kolkata rentals increased to Rs 58 per sq ft from Rs 54 per square feet.

MMR, the most expensive office market in the country, saw rental increasing to Rs 136 per square feet from Rs 130 per sq ft In NCR, the average office rentals rose to Rs 85 from Rs 81 per square feet.