Office market: vacancy rates rise - only slightly in the top 5

CBRE Switzerland recorded an increase in office vacancies in the first quarter. The office space available across Switzerland within three months rose to 2.14 million sqm or 4.4% of the stock at the end of March (Q4 2024: 4.1%). This means that the availability rate is as high as it was in the third quarter of 2016, when only 1.97 million sqm of office space was available for rent in absolute terms.

Increase in supply in peripheral areas and suburbs of large cities

In the top 5 centers, however, office availability has only risen slightly - from 3.5 to 3.6%. "This underlines the demand trend towards central locations," comments CBRE. The increase in supply on the office rental market is due in particular to peripheral locations outside the five largest office markets. Office availability increased from 3.0 to 3.4%, which roughly corresponds to the average of the last ten years. The suburbs of the major cities also recorded an increase in office availability from 9.2 to 9.5%. The only exception: in the suburbs of Geneva, the vacancy situation has eased slightly in recent quarters and has fallen below 9% for the first time since 2019 - to 8.8%. In the other major cities, availability rates are stable - such as in the Zurich suburbs at 13.2% - or continue to point slightly upwards in the short term, such as in the Lausanne suburbs at currently 8.8% and in the Basel suburbs at 7.8%. "With the slowdown in new office construction activity, however, these vacancy rates are likely to recover in the longer term," writes CBRE.

Uncertainty due to customs dispute

With an availability rate of a low 3.3% (Q4 2024: 3.1%), the office market in Zurich is "very robust" according to CBRE. Demand for office space got off to a good start across the board at the beginning of the year, with larger tech companies in particular returning to growth, according to the report. However, the customs dispute and geopolitical uncertainty in the current second quarter have led to a certain amount of uncertainty and slowed down decision-making processes. However, CBRE observed a reluctance to rent space "only among individual companies in the industrial and retail sectors that are particularly dependent on business in the USA". Demand from traditional office service providers has not (yet) been explicitly affected by this.

Basel is the lone leader in vacancy rates

Office supply in terms of existing stock remains the highest of all major cities in the city of Basel, with 5.9% advertised for letting in the near future. In Basel's CBD, the figure is even a record 11.0%. The cities of Geneva (3.7%), Bern (2.8%) and Lausanne (2.1%) are characterized by significantly lower office availability.