Vacancy Rate for Brazilian Offices Continues to Decline

The vacancy rate for offices in major Brazilian cities reached 23.8% in Q1 2023, signaling a slight decrease compared to the previous quarter (24.2%). The data comes from monitoring conducted by the SiiLA intelligence platform, a hub of solutions for the real estate market in Latin America.

The total leasing volume reached 274.7 thousand sqm, with a net absorption of 64 thousand sqm, indicating a more positive outlook than the previous year. The net leasing and returns balance in Q1 2023 was negative at -10.4 thousand sqm. The sectors of the economy driving the largest office absorptions were Finance, Education, Real Estate, Legal, and Health.

In the first three months of 2024, the office inventory grew, with the addition of 25 thousand sqm to the total inventory (considering classes A+, A, and B), which surpasses 14.1 million sqm.

The new developments in the period were all delivered in the city of São Paulo, which is the largest office market in the country, with over 8.2 million sqm.

Campinas (inland São Paulo), Curitiba (PR), and Belo Horizonte (MG) are the cities with the lowest vacancy rates compared to the inventory, at 11.6%, 11.9%, and 12%, respectively. On the other hand, the capitals with the highest vacancy rates are Rio de Janeiro (34.2%), Porto Alegre (28.7%), and São Paulo (22%).

On a national average, the average asking price per square meter increased from R$ 79.26/sqm in Q4 2023 to R$ 80.48/sqm, with São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte being the capitals with the highest prices for leasing space in a commercial building.