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Going to the office: How will office markets cope with changes in the workplace?
The office sector in most major European real estate markets had a very good 2015. Some markets, most notably London, have seen rents and take-up reach and even exceed 2007 levels — and have seen the corresponding investor interest. Others are seeing a slower recovery, but are moving strongly in the right direction. And still others, such as those in Spain and Italy, have continued to struggle, but appear to finally be moving off the bottom. The consensus view of researchers and industry pundits is that the favourable office environment will continue, though at the end of 2016 we might be looking back and realising that 2015 was the peak of the rental growth recovery.
Many of the major markets in Europe now seeing a strong recovery are considered global cities — and the current slump in global trade, as well as the slowdown in the growth of emerging markets, could negatively affect the demand for offices in these cities, though it hasn’t yet. Uncertainty over the Brexit