China Figures Q1 2025

OFFICE

New office supply fell by 40% q-o-q and 10% y-o-y to 760,000 sq. m. in Q1 2025, while net absorption increased 35% y-o-y to 580,000 sq. m.. Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen drove the rebound, reporting y-o-y growth ranging from 50-200%. Average office vacancy stood at 23.5%. Slow take-up caused the decline in the average face rental index to accelerate to 2.9% q-o-q.

RETAIL

New retail supply and net absorption reached 1.11 million sq. m. and 970,000 sq. m., respectively, while vacancy stablised at 7.3%. For full year 2024, new supply and net absorption reached 3.73 million sq. m. and 3.52 million sq. m., respectively, up 3.0% y-o-y and 34% y-o-y.

LOGISTICS

National warehouse net absorption reached 2.57 million sq. m. in Q1 2025, marking the highest first quarter total on record. The cross-border e-commerce, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail enterprises were in expansion mode in Q1 2025. New logistics supply reached 2.67 million sq. m., and vacancy dropped 0.9 percentage points y-o-y to 20.3% in Q1.

INVESTMENT

Commercial real estate investment volume totalled RMB 56.1 billion in Q1 2025, an increase of 10% q-o-q but a decrease of 13% y-o-y. Activity was led by insurance funds, which accounted for 39% of investment volume, the highest since Q4 2022. Investors were seen targeting core office buildings, with assets related to the value new economy and consumption also a key focus.