Overall real estate leasing activities last month stood at 3.2 million square feet in India, a 56 per cent decline on a monthly basis largely due to the lull period post the 2022 year-end momentum, said real estate advisory firm JLL.
On a yearly basis, the leasing numbers, however, are 93 per cent higher in January.
"The month of January is typically a slow period, as the holiday season for global corporates and future business planning take precedence. Mostly deals that slipped due to certain reasons get concluded during this month," it said.
Fresh leasing, which includes expansion and relocation, accounted for 87 per cent of all recorded transactions during the month of January.
In January 2023, the top three cities in that order were Delhi NCR, Chennai, and Mumbai, accounting for 77 per cent of monthly leasing activity. Regarding the number of transactions, Mumbai remained the most active market, followed by Delhi-NCR.
"As future business projections are made under the shadow of global headwinds and the tech sector, facing a period of course correction is likely to be slow in space take-up, we expect that rising office occupancies and growth in other occupier segments should keep the momentum steady," said Samantak Das, chief economist and head of research and REIS, India, JLL.
However, Das said an overall sluggishness is likely but more sustained trends of demand movement will be visible over the course of the next 2-3 months.
Considering that the IT sector is presently facing slower employment and sluggish growth expectations, leasing activities in the IT industry may see a course correction.
( With inputs from ANI )
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