Vacancy rates for grade A offices in Taipei dropped to 2.36 percent last quarter as robust demand and a lack of new supply helped the market avoid the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (JLL) said on Tuesday.
The office market is poised to benefit from a sustained recovery, with a 3 to 5 percent increase in rents for the rest of this year, the local branch of the US broker said.
The second quarter saw a take-up rate of 3,212 ping (10,618m2), keeping vacancy rates at their second-lowest level in history, JLL Taiwan senior market director Brian Liu (劉建宇) told a news conference in Taipei, calling the forecast conservative amid tight supply.
“Rents at landmark buildings in the city’s prime Xinyi District (信義) already soared by double-digit percentage points this year, and landlords will continue to have the upper hand,” said Liu, whose company controls more than 50 percent of the local leasing market.
Taipei’s resilient showing bucked regional trends, as vacancy rates rose 6.7 percent in Seoul, 1.7 percent in Singapore, 1.2 percent in Hong Kong and 1.1 percent in Beijing, JLL data showed.
The pandemic is accelerating supply chain realignment as evidenced by the Ministry of Economic Affairs receiving investment pledges of more than NT$1 trillion (US$33.78 billion) by the middle of May, JLL said.
Taiwan’s efficiency in containing the spread of COVID-19 would enable companies to proceed with investment plans on schedule, whereas in many other parts of the world, attempts at expansion have been pushed back by lockdowns, the company said.
Rents held steady from the previous quarter at NT$2,809 per ping, with rents in Xinyi standing at NT$3,411 per ping, still more affordable than upscale offices in other international cities, JLL said.
JLL Taiwan managing director Tony Chao (趙正義) said that the pandemic might permanently reshape people’s lives, including working arrangements.
Remote working and learning would stay and gain traction, as would the coworking model, which would reduce the need for physical office space, Chao added.
However, companies would maintain greater space between staffers and set aside more social areas in the post-pandemic era to help employees stay healthy and motivated, meaning that overall office space might remain at similar levels, Chao said.
STRONG INTEREST: Analysts have pointed to optimism in TSMC’s growth prospects in the artificial intelligence era as the cause of the rising number of shareholders The number of people holding shares of chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) hit a new high last week despite a decline in its stock price, the Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corp (TDCC, 台灣集保) said. The number of TSMC shareholders rose to 2.46 million as of Friday, up 75,536 from a week earlier, TDCC data showed. The stock price fell 1.34 percent during the same week to close at NT$1,840 (US$57.55). The decline in TSMC’s share price resulted from volatility in global tech stocks, driven by rising international crude oil prices as the war against Iran continues. Dealers said
PRICE HIKES: The war in the Middle East would not significantly disrupt supply in the short term, but semiconductor companies are facing price surges for materials Taiwan’s semiconductor companies are not facing imminent supply disruptions of essential chemicals or raw materials due to the war in the Middle East, but surges in material costs loom large, industry association SEMI Taiwan said yesterday. The association’s comments came amid growing concerns that supplies of helium and other key raw materials used in semiconductor production could become a choke point after Qatar shut down its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and helium output earlier this month due to the conflict. Qatar is the second-largest LNG supplier in the world and accounts for about 33 percent of global helium output. Helium is
Taiwan’s natural gas supply remains stable through the end of May, despite rising concerns about potential disruptions to Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies due to escalating conflicts in the Middle East, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan has completed preparations for natural gas supply and shipping schedules through the end of May. It has also made plans to increase natural gas imports from regions outside the Middle East in June to ensure a stable supply, it added. Taiwan sources natural gas from 14 countries and is not solely dependent on the Middle East,
China is clamping down on fertilizer exports to protect its domestic market, industry sources said, putting an additional strain on global markets that were already grappling with shortages caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. China is among the largest fertilizer exporters — shipping more than US$13 billion of it last year — and it has a history of controlling exports to keep prices low for farmers. Shipments through the war-blocked Strait of Hormuz account for about one-third of the sea-borne supply. This month, Beijing banned exports of nitrogen-potassium fertilizer blends and certain phosphate varieties, sources said. The ban, which has not
RSS