Demand for offices falls in Île-de-France

Between January and March, 317.400 square meters of office space were newly let or sold to an occupant. This is half as much as in the previous quarter (654.100 m³), ​​and 39% less than in the first quarter of 2022 (518.700).

With the exception of 2020 during the first confinement, this figure had not been so low since 2002.

“We expected a slow start to the year on the real estate market, and the figures confirm this anticipation”, explains to AFP Virginie Houzé, director of studies and research at the specialist in business real estate. JLL.

"We are in an extremely volatile context, since mid-2021 we have been faced with significant inflation, an explosion in energy costs, and this has prompted some companies to put their real estate projects on hold", adds- She.

The office space available in Ile-de-France has never been so high, with 4,43 million square meters.

It is falling in intramural Paris, while it is increasing everywhere on the outskirts of the capital, giving credence to the idea of ​​an increasingly strong polarization between the best-placed offices and those furthest away.

"We have a market that is very, very polarized, and that also contributed to this slowdown", analyzes Virginie Houzé.

"In intramural Paris, we have a limited supply, especially if we are looking for good quality premises, labeled, etc., and all Parisian offices have seen their rental value increase sharply," she adds.

The volume of office sales to investors also fell, to a lesser extent, with 2,4 billion euros of investment recorded by Immostat, the majority of which in Paris.

The price per square meter granted by investors fell to 7.705 euros per square meter against 7.887 euros in the previous quarter. Here too, the decline is particularly noticeable in the inner suburbs of the Ile-de-France region, while prices are holding up or eroding slightly in Paris, and progressing in the outer suburbs.

The average rent excluding taxes for new leases in Île-de-France amounts to 422 euros per square meter per year for new or restructured premises, and 427 euros for second-hand premises, down slightly after the record levels reached. in 2022.