Normalisation of the market is in sight
Letting activity over 2021 unsurprisingly reflected the evolution of the sanitary policies imposed in all European countries. Indeed, take-up started to accelerate from Q2 and showed continuous improvement afterwards. Even though the overall result for 2021 is – as expected – still below the pre-crisis levels, encouraging signs are undoubtedly in sight.
Take-up
Volumes in the 15 markets achieved 7.56 million sqm in 2021, a +23% increase compared to 2020. The last quarter was particularly buoyant as volumes were in line with the pre-crisis Q4 activity in a significant number of markets.
Rents
Prime rental values remained at high levels during the crisis. There was no significant decrease and even a number of increases compared to
the pre-crisis values, proving that the appeal of the best assets remained mostly intact.
Vacancy
After a sharp increase over the course of 2020 and in the first half of 2021, vacancy rates began stabilizing from the end of Q2 2021, thanks to the progressive recovery of take-up.
