Shanghai Prime Office Building Vacancy Ratio Sets 4 Yr High

The vacancy ratio of Shanghai's Class A office buildings went up 2 percentage points to an average of 12.3% during the first quarter of 2009, hitting a record high since 2005, according to a report out Thursday by Colliers International. The gloomy rate was the result of low new demand for offices that added just 3,500 m2 over the past 3 months representing just 3% of that recorded a year earlier. The tier 2 Class A office towers who began leasing in the first quarter of 2009 reported that less than 50% of their properties had been rented by March 31, and the average rate of Class A office buildings across the city has declined to ¥10 per m2 per day, the report said.

$1 = ¥6.8