For the first time in Q2 2024, a sturdy leasing sentiment is witnessed amongst India’s top seven cities. Including Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, and Hyderabad. These cities recorded a gross leasing volume of 1 million sq ft.
In the second quarter, the gross leasing sky-rocketed by 21.3% and recorded 18.38 million sq ft. It went beyond the last four consecutive quarters with the 15 million sq ft mark. This gross leasing volume hints at a strong momentum in office space leasing.
2024’s second quarter acknowledges the robustness of the Indian office market and shows strong business potential with high attainment. The manifold growth and accomplishments of high figures will go past the record for the year 2023.
Additionally, the H1 2024 is reported as the best first half with high leasing volumes of 33.5 million sq ft. This figure is bent by record for the same portfolio performance in 2019.
Bengaluru is the leader in office leasing space with a 33% share of quarterly gross leasing. The city is followed by Delhi at 20.7% office space leasing activities. For the last time, both these cities have been replacing each other at the top.
Hyderabad and Mumbai witnessed strong leasing activity with a share of 13.1% and 12.2% respectively. It is the maiden time when all top Indian cities registered a gross leasing volume of more than 1 million sq ft.
Dr. Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head of Research and REIS, India, JLL said, “As global economic and business conditions stabilize, global occupiers are now more certain of their real estate plans, with India being at the top of their list for footprint expansion and growth. In Q2, global occupiers accounted for a significant 59.3% share of gross leasing volumes. Nevertheless, domestic occupiers continue to show strong momentum, representing a 48.4% share of India’s gross leasing activity since 2022. This is a notable increase from the 35% average share in three year-old period from 2017 to 2019. While global occupiers remain bullish on expanding and growing their operations in India, a strong domestic economy is creating resilience in the office market. ”
The tech industry registered its strongest market performance in the last two years. It has a share of 31.5% in Q2 2024.
Rahul Arora, Head (Office Leasing & Retail Services), India JLL said, “In a period of global sluggishness, India office market remained resilient given its underlying fundamentals. The same factors have now come together to create a period of sustained growth, with India at the forefront of global firm’s real estate decisions and strategies. Strong domestic economy parameters are also fuelling space take-up by home-grown firms. The Indian office growth story is strongly supported by the remarkable growth shown by GCCs in Q2. With a substantial 42.6% share of the total leasing in Q2, the GCCs continue to remain the dominant occupier group, accounting for over one-third of gross leasing activity so far in 2024. India’s leadership position in the GCC ecosystem continues to remain intact, driven by high end R&D work that supports headcount expansion opportunities for these firms, resulting in strong space demand. What is most remarkable is that 2024 is projected to mark record breaking gross leasing of 65-70 million sq ft setting the stage for a historic milestone in the country’s commercial real estate.”
In the coming time, GCCs will be in the driving seat for the country’s growth momentum. Their existing and expanding footprints will foray into new verticals in India. The year 2024 will mark new highs for the Indian real estate market.
