Bonn, October 6, 2023 At the end of the third quarter, the Bonn office rental market posted positive rental performance, especially considering the current overall situation on the real estate market.
The result determined by Larbig & Mortag Immobilien Bonn, exclusive partner of the NAI apollo group, amounts to around 81,186 m² of newly leased office space, which is on par with the previous year. The vacancy rate has risen slightly. Rents remain extremely stable.
In total, rental performance of approximately 81,186 m² of office space was recorded in the third quarter of 2023 (third quarter of 2022: 81,100 m²). The main reason for this impressive interim result is the large-scale lease to the German Aerospace Center (DLR) PT, which accounts for around 43,000 square meters of office space and alone represents a market share of around 53.0 percent of total leasing performance. Despite the very good results at the end of the third quarter, market movements must also be viewed critically. New space requests continue to be initiated only cautiously, and decisions are often postponed for long periods of time. If decision-making among companies looking for space does not become more certain and the situation therefore does not change, the market will lack active requests and ultimately space turnover in the coming months.
A total of 58 lease agreements have been identified to date. In terms of quantity, companies in the range up to 500 m² of office space remain extremely active. Users in this size category were able to finalize 47 lease agreements. This corresponds to a market share of around 81.0 percent (office space: approx. 8,026 m²). In terms of letting performance, however, large-scale lettings continue to drive turnover – the largest single letting took place in the Bonn North submarket. Another major deal was concluded in the first half of the year with the BImA signing a lease for two public-sector users in the federal district covering around 15,530 m² in the "Neuer Kanzlerplatz" new development.
In addition to the key figures mentioned above, the rental price level in Beethovenstadt remains stable. As in previous years, the average rent continues to rise, reaching approximately EUR 13.74/sqm (end of 2022: EUR 13.18/sqm), its highest level to date. Maximum and prime rents remain constant. The maximum rent was agreed at EUR 27.00/m² for a property in the federal district, while the prime rent of EUR 25.00/m² was achieved in deals in the federal district and Bonner Bogen submarkets. The rental price level also reflects the search criteria of companies active in the market, which focus on modern property quality. The resulting higher rents are leading to an increase in key figures.
The vacancy rate, which has come under increasing pressure in recent years, is recovering somewhat and currently stands at 2.60 percent. This corresponds to a vacancy of just under 105,000 m². In addition to existing properties, new-build space completed during the year and available for immediate occupancy continues to be available on the market. In recent years, it has been rare for companies looking for space to be able to choose between several modern properties. These vacancies are mainly responsible for the moderate increase in the still critical vacancy rate.
Looking at Bonn's preferred submarkets, the "Bonn North" area ranked first in the warehouse ranking at the end of the third quarter of 2023 with a rental performance of approximately 44,616 m² In second place is the "Bundesviertel" submarket, which is usually the most popular. With a rental performance of around 15,856 m², its market share amounts to 19.33 percent. The Bad Godesberg submarket, together with the Godesberg center, ranks third with 5,280 m² of office space brokered (6.50 percent).
The experts at Larbig & Mortag Immobilien continue to expect total annual turnover on the Bonn office market of around 90,000-100,000 m² of brokered office space. Although this result would be significantly below the five-year average (approximately 115,000 m²), it would still be considered positive given the overall situation on the real estate market.
Read the entire office market report from Bonn for the third quarter of 2023 now and download the PDF file!
