PM companies leaving Hokkaido amid Sapporo office market slump
Several real estate property management companies have begun to close down their offices in Sapporo, Hokkaido, as the local commercial market continues to decline.
At the end of March, Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) will close their Hokkaido branch. Also, CBRE and the Sumitomo Life Insurance Company will no longer have representatives stationed in Hokkaido. Sumisei Building Management, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Life Insurance, is also closing their office in March as part of cost cutting measures. Sanko Estate currently has one staff member stationed in Hokkaido but all duties will be transferred to Tokyo from spring.Read more
Tokyo office market showing further signs of slowing
The central Tokyo office building market is stagnating. At the end of November, the office vacancy rate for Tokyo's central 5 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya) reached 8.90%. This is the second continuous month with an increase in vacancy rates and the first time since April, 2011, that rates had reached this level. Meanwhile, the average office rent for central Tokyo has declined for the 39th continuous month.
With the Euro crisis and strong Yen, there is a deceleration in demand from tenants with many companies being more prudent and delaying moving. The demand for buildings with high disaster preparedness and earthquake resistance has slowed.Read more