In Bucharest, Vodafone pre-leased 16,000 square meters in Bucharest One and Orange pre-leased 14,000 sqm in Green Court Bucharest, according to DTZ.
The biggest office space deal in the markets analyzed in the most recent DTZ study, released Tuesday, was in Budapest but it was a lease renewal.
Other major pre-leases in buildings under construction were recorded in Prague, with 11,100 sqm.
The total modern office space stock in the four analyzed capital stood at 12.6 million sqm at the end of June. Warsaw is still the biggest market, with 4.3 million sqm, followed by Budapest with 3.2 million sqm, Prague with 2.96 million sqm and Bucharest with 2.11 million sqm.
Compared to the second half of 2013, modern office stock in the four capital cities increased 3%, as approximately 387,000 sqm were delivered in the first half of this year. Warsaw recorded the largest volume of new office space delivered in the first half this year, 190,000 sqm, while new office space in Budapest stood at 51,000 sqm, and Prague and Bucharest delivered 77,000 sqm and 69,000 sqm, respectively.
An additional 304,000 sqm of office space is to be delivered in the four capitals in the second half of 2014. The biggest volumes are expected in Prague and Warsaw, where over 200,000 sqm are under construction and set to be delivered this year. Budapest will have the lowest delivery volume in the second half of the year, with just 14,000 sqm, while Bucharest expects 64,000 sqm delivered by the end of the year.
Total lease activity in the four capitals stood amounted to 761,000 sqm, of which 61% was new demand. Of new demand, Bucharest attracted 23% of the traded area (108,000 sqm), while Warsaw attracted 35% (164,000 sqm), followed by Budapest with 25% (118,000 sqm), and Prague with 17% (82,000 sqm).
The general vacancy rate at the end of the first half in the main capital s in Central and Eastern Europe stood at 15%, virtually unchanged from the previous six months. The vacancy rate grew in Warsaw and Prague and declined in Budapest and Bucharest.
Pressure on rent prices was recorded in most CEE markets, determined particularly by intense construction activity. Prime rents in central Warsaw stood at EUR24 -25.5/sqm/months in the first half, while rents outside the city center stood at EUR14 – 16.
In central Prague, prime rents stood at EUR18.5-19.5 /sqm/month, while prices outside the center stood at EUR13-14.5. In Budapest, office space rented for EUR14-16/sqm/month.
In central Bucharest, prime rents stood at EUR16-18, while office space outside the city center went for EUR9-12.
Effective net rents in the main CEE capitals were 10-20% lower in the first half of 2014 compared to the previous six-month period.