Occupancy rates for offices, shopping centers and serviced apartments have declined after the government tightened mobility restrictions in the third quarter of this year in response to a spike in virus cases.
he second wave of COVID-19 added pressure on the commercial real estate sector in Jakarta and even affected residential property, consulting firm Colliers International reported Wednesday.
The occupancy rate for offices fell by 0.5 percentage points to 78.7 percent in the central business district (CBD) and by 0.6 percentage points to 77.8 percent outside the CBD in the July-to-September period from the previous quarter.
Office occupancy in the capital has been on a downtrend since the third quarter of 2020.
Despite new office space set to enter the market by the year-end, the occupancy rate in the CBD is expected to pick up slightly based on rent commitments secured by landlords, according to Ferry Salanto, senior associate director of research at the property firm. Yet the figure may stay below 80 percent.
“So, that figure does not really mean it is safe to say that the office industry has returned to health from the developer or landlord perspective,” Ferry said in an online press briefing on Wednesday. “There are still a lot of empty [offices] available and that will affect lease rates.”
Office occupancy rates fell after many people began working from home during the pandemic. On July 21, at the peak of the second pandemic wave, visits to workplaces in Jakarta was nearly half of the average during normal times, Google Mobility data show.
Read also: Jakarta’s CBD office occupancy at lowest in five years
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