New Delhi: While things are not looking up for residential real estate sector, stakeholders remain positive on the office front and expect leasing rates to be on an upward swing in the coming six months. A survey by consultancy Knight Frank India, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and National Real Estate Development Council (NARDECO) shows that market sentiment towards new office supply is expected to remain strong. About 83% of the respondents believe that the second half (July to December) of calendar year 2019 will see new supply additions and continue its momentum in key office markets across the country.
According to Knight Frank Research, office leasing recorded a decadal high of 2.6 million square metres (or 27.4 million square feet) for space transacted in a single period during H1 (January to June) 2019 due to demand from IT/ITeS and co-working spaces. "Stakeholder outlook with regards future rental appreciation remains upbeat in Q2 (April to June) 2019 with 86% of the stakeholders expecting rents to either remain stable or inch upwards in quality office space in key locations due to limited options," it said.
However, the residential sector remains in doldrums."The overall slowdown in economy coupled with factors like the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) crisis, developer defaults and bankruptcies have slackened the sentiments of sector, especially for residential segment," said the research report.
