Shanghai Figures Q4 2023

Retail market continues to recover; investment outlook brightens

Office

This quarter saw the completion of two new buildings providing a combined 208,700 sq. m. of new office space. Leasing demand was led by finance (securities, other financial services), followed by consumer products manufacturing (clothing, automotive and FMCG) and TMT. Relocations continued to dominate leasing transactions. Overall vacancy rose by 0.1% q-o-q to 19.8%.

Retail

One new project was completed this quarter, adding 150,000 sq. m. of new retail supply to the market. With market continuing to recover, citywide vacancy remained flat at 8.1%, increased by 0.1 pps y-o-y. In addition to F&B and fashion, emerging demand included Chinese Hanfu-clothing, lab-grown diamonds, and luxury vintage boutiques.

Logistics

One new project adding 46,893 sq. m. of space was delivered in Baoshan in Q4 2023. Demand was mainly led by the F&B industry, driven by the recovery of the catering market. Manufacturing demand was observed from pharmaceutical and energy storage firms, while 3PLs remained active. Vacancy increased by 0.5 pps q-o-q to 14.4%.

Business Park

One new property of 77,600 sq m. came on stream in Zhangjiang this quarter. Both supply and demand weakened over Q4 2023, with net absorption falling to 95,379 sq. m. TMT, industrial manufacturing and pharmaceutical & life science companies displayed the strongest demand.

Investment

A total of 24 investment transactions worth a combined RMB 21.64 billion were completed in Q4 2023, marking a q-o-q decline of 8.1%. New economy assets such as business parks and factories attracted stronger demand over the quarter.