IT companies, manufacturing & industry, and the medical & pharma sectors, have been the most active in the office leasing market over the past 5 years, generating more than half of the new demand for office spaces, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
The net take-up (excluding renegotiation contracts) in Bucharest and major regional cities – Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, and Brașov – totaled approximately 1.06 million square meters, between 2020-2024. This area is comparable to the total office stock in the four regional cities or 30% of the stock in Bucharest.
IT sector generated over 35% of the new demand, representing 375,730 square meters of space contracted nationwide in the last five years. In second place, but significantly behind the leader, ranked manufacturing & industrial companies with 9.2% of the volume (98,000 square meters), followed by pharma & medical sector with 9% of the total (95,200 square meters).
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The stock of modern offices in Bucharest and other university centers in the country – Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi, and Brasov – amounts for approximately 4.51 million square meters, while projects totaling 390,000 square meters are currently in various stages of development, due to be deliver over the next five years.
In these circumstances, the average vacancy rate of office spaces in the five analyzed cities stands at 13.8%, with the lowest level recorded in Cluj-Napoca – 6.6%, and the highest in Iași -19.4%. In Bucharest, the average vacancy rate dropped to 14.2% at the end of last year. In terms of prime rents over the past five years, in Bucharest, at the end of last year, they reached a maximum level of EUR 21/sqm/month.
