The market for traditional offices is falling, while demand is increasing for virtual offices
The total realised demand for office premises in the first quarter of this year dropped in comparison with the last quarter of 2008 by approximately 18%, according to a report on the market for office premises by the Prague Research Forum (PRF), an association of six leading players on the Prague real estate market.
The non-occupancy rates of offices rose in Prague for the third consecutive quarter. In the first quarter of 2009 they rose by approximately 1 percentage point to 10.04 % against the previous quarter. The analysis also shows that the extent of newly built office premises in 2009 in the capital city will be half of last year’s figures and will not attain the long-term average.
This is confirmed by the last study by the European Landlord & Tenant Survey, published by the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield, which states that the construction of office buildings is experiencing its largest drop for the last eight years. Over the last year the average office surface area per employee has gone down. The consolidation of occupancy and a reduction in the number of employees will continue to be the main factors impacting on demand for office premises over the next twelve months.
The trend is completely the reverse in the case of virtual offices. “New clients have begun coming to us recently in greater numbers because of the financial crisis, since many of them have decided to give up the traditional stone office in an effort to cut costs,” says Daniel Lattner, director of OFFICE HOUSE. When using this company’s services clients receive the standard administrative support which they need to function, including contact with the public and public administration. The rents and operating costs of a virtual office are far less than those of a traditional office.
