Guangzhou’s population is estimated at close to 13 million, and it is just a few hours’ drive from Hong Kong, officially the most expensive city in the world to rent office space.
According to Colliers International, offices in Guangzhou cost around 32,000 Chinese yuan per square metre in the second quarter of 2012, which amounts to around £3,200. Rental costs have remained steady between April and the end of June.
Bryan Chen Houqiao, from Colliers’ local offices, told the South China Morning Post: “The increase was due to limited supply of available Grade A office buildings in Guangzhou. And there were also some landmark buildings on offer during the quarter.”
Among the major office space purchases completed in recent months in the region was the Guangzhou Automobile Group’s acquisition of 45,600 sq m at the Poly D Plaza in the Tianhe district of its namesake city.
A number of in-depth reports from real estate analysis firms around the world have illustrated the growing prominence of Chinese cities as leading office space locations. CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) recently reported that six of the world’s top ten most expensive office space markets are to be found in the Asia-Pacific region, including those in central Beijing and Hong Kong.
Editor’s notes: In Q1 2024, there was no new office space added to the city’s supply and there was 22,6115 square metres of net absorption of space.
Prime rents were at 137.3 RMB/sqm/month, which represented a 2.5% decrease from the previous quarter, and the vacancy rate was 11.5%.