Cushman & Wakefield’s October 13 release puts third-quarter vacancy across eight major Indian office markets at 14.37%, up 63 basis points quarterly. New completions reached a record 22.7 million square feet, while occupied space increased by 14.1 million square feet. Rents rose 2% quarterly.
The dataset covers Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. It does not describe every Indian property market.
Completed space can expand faster than occupancy, leaving more space vacant even as businesses take additional offices. These figures therefore need to be read together.
Keep the measures separate
Net absorption means the change in occupied stock. Gross leasing measures transactions: the city reports’ year-to-date figures include renewals and pre-commitments, which need not immediately add occupied space.
The local differences
Hyderabad’s report records 8.6 million square feet of new supply, all in Gachibowli. City vacancy was 21.58%, compared with 7.11% in Madhapur and 40.85% in Gachibowli. Its stock-weighted asking rent rose 4.2% quarterly.
The report’s Madhapur submarket includes Kondapur and Raidurg; Gachibowli includes Nanakramguda and Manikonda.
Bengaluru added 9.8 million square feet of supply and about 4 million of occupied space. Vacancy was roughly 10.6% overall, versus 7.4% on Outer Ring Road and 25.5% in Peripheral North.
Both city reports cover Grade A offices. Bengaluru’s information cutoff is September 25; Hyderabad’s is September 30. Rental measures are stock-weighted asking rents for offices with core facilities, high-side air conditioning and full power backup, rather than effective signed-lease costs.
From the report to the building
A company choosing premises has operational questions that a citywide percentage cannot answer. Can staff reach the building? Is the space usable for the intended work? When can the team move in, and what would fitting it out involve?
The full proposed lease also matters: quoted rent is one input alongside the other charges, commitments and negotiated terms. A nearby building with a different specification may not meet the same requirements, even if both appear in the same market report.
For landlords, competition similarly depends on the occupiers a building can realistically serve. Empty space elsewhere is relevant only to the extent that it offers those businesses a workable alternative.
The Crunch
A market report is a starting point for comparing premises. The final choice depends on the specific building, its location and the proposed lease.