The commercial real estate market is experiencing an era of fragmentation

Today, the situation on the capital's commercial real estate market is characterized by a sharp increase in the number of small premises. Renting large and comfortable offices is becoming less and less affordable both in price and in the availability of offers. In the first half of this year, over 515 thousand square meters were sold to private investors, mainly in small blocks. For comparison: this is approximately equivalent to the area of ​​72 standard football fields. This strategy allows you to receive almost twice the income from renting out properties compared to residential real estate.

At the same time, the price of transactions is growing despite the high key rate of the Central Bank. In just the first six months, investors signed contracts to purchase about 43 thousand square meters, and most of them had an area of ​​less than 300 square meters.

At the same time, large corporate clients are experiencing difficulties due to the limited choice of areas of significant size.

The price of the issue and future prospects

A commission of specialists (developers or asset management companies) increases the costs of tenants even more. Usually, the commission is equal to the cost of one month's rent of the premises plus the cost of repairs. But the main problem lies elsewhere - capitalization of the business in the conditions of high lending rates looks like an unattractive prospect. Many companies choose an alternative option - the use of ready-made office solutions in the "flexible office" format.

The total share of vacant premises on the Moscow market remains minimal - about 3.5-4%, while the normal figure is considered to be within 10-15%. Accordingly, the average rental cost continues to grow. Thus, office rent in the best business clusters of Moscow has increased over the past year by at least 30%, and in the most prestigious places like the Paveletsky district, the growth was as much as 50%.

Thus, the trend of reducing the areas offered to large companies and increasing the share of small spaces has a significant impact on the entire market, complicating the lives of landlords and significantly increasing the burden on the budgets of corporate clients.