With vacancies rising, rents are falling for Beijing’s premium office space

VACANCIES have been rising and rents falling in Beijing’s office buildings over the fourth quarter, as businesses cut back on spending amid fallout from the pandemic, industry data shows.

China’s deteriorating commercial property shows how the country’s real estate crisis has gone beyond the residential market, which has suffered from a protracted sales slump since last year.

In the Chinese capital, the vacancy rate for premium, or Grade A, offices rose 1.4 percentage points to 16 per cent in Q4 from the previous three months, said a Tuesday (Dec 27) report by Cushman & Wakefield, a real estate consultancy.