London regains crown as most expensive market for office space

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - London elbowed its way past Hong Kong to regain the title as the world's most expensive market in which to rent office space, while Rio de Janeiro jumped to the No. 3 spot from No. 8, according to a report by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

It was the first time since 2008 that London took the top spot. Competition for the scarce high quality office space in London fueled office rents by 2 percent in the city's West End bolstering rents sufficiently to leapfrog over Hong Kong, according to the report on Tuesday.

Office rents in the West End are expected to continue to grow as the economy improves, Cushman & Wakefield said.

At 2,137 euros S$3,600 per square meter, London's occupancy cost, which includes taxes and charges for cleaning and other services, are more than twice those of Paris, New York and Moscow.

Rounding out the top 10 most expensive office markets at the start of 2013 compared with 2012 were:

* No. 4 Connaught Place, New Delhi; up from No 5

* No. 5 Tokyo central business district, 5 Central Wards; down from No. 3

* No. 6 Moscow central business district; down from No. 4

* No. 7 Beijing central business district; down from No. 6

* No. 8 New York, Midtown, Madison and Fifth avenues; down from No. 7

* No. 9 Sydney central business district; unchanged

* No. 10 Paris central business district; unchanged

Source: http://straitstimes.com.feedsportal.com/c/32792/f/640962/s/28bdd385/l/0L0Sstraitstimes0N0Cbreaking0Enews0Cmoney0Cstory0Clondon0Eregains0Ecrown0Emost0Eexpensive0Emarket0Eoffice0Espace0E20A130A220A/story01.htm

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