Rising office employment meets insufficient construction activity in Germany, report reveals

Findings from a new study by The Empira Group has revealed that rising office employment numbers are leading to an increase in office space shortage in Germany.

The report analyzed the office real estate markets of 15 major German cities, tracking changes in office employment numbers, rent levels, yields and vacancies.

It found that the number of office-based employees in Germany has risen by about 20 percent to close to 11 million since 2008, while annual construction activity lags behind.

The study recorded an average office vacancy of 4.1 percent across Germany with a continual downtrend since 2010. Compared to 2010, vacancy rates decreased in 14 out of the 15 cities, with only Essen witnessing a slight increase to 4.6 percent.

“Many institutional investors do prefer office properties in top locations of major German cities. However, they hardly find any more offers at acceptable prices,” said Lahcen Knapp, CEO of The Empira Group. “It only takes