Office rents bear price comparison with Sydney

It’s not just first-home buyers who are feeling the pressure in the Auckland property market – the city is one of the 50 most expensive places in the world to rent an office.

New rental data analysis from Colliers International compared 210 office precincts and 220 industrial areas.

Colliers director of research Chris Dibble said Auckland came in at the 42nd most expensive to rent prime CBD office space and the 56th most expensive for prime warehouse space.

Wellington was in the 57th spot for the office sector and 68th for industrial.

Christchurch came in at 68th and 89th, respectively.

Hong Kong took out first place for the most expensive place in the world to lease both office and industrial space.

‘‘A prime office in Hong Kong’s CBD will set you back an eye-watering average of $3314 per square metre,’’ Dibble said.

‘‘Hot on Hong Kong’s heels, but with some distance in between, was London’s West End, where office space costs $1891 a sqm. Finishing out the podium was Paris at $1174 a sqm.’’

By comparison, average prime office net rents in New Zealand are $478 per sqm in Auckland, $388 per sqm in Wellington and $370 per sqm in Christchurch.

‘‘That’s still relatively inexpensive compared with Sydney, which ranked fifth globally at $1037 a sqm.’’

In the industrial sector, San Francisco Peninsula took out second place behind Hong Kong, at $342 per sqm.

The third spot was taken by London’s Heathrow at $336 per sqm.

‘‘Those rents are more than three times higher than in New Zealand’s main centres,’’ Dibble said.

‘‘Average prime industrial net rents are $124 a sqm in Auckland, $108 a sqm in Wellington and $103 a sqm in Christchurch.

‘‘By comparison, the average prime industrial rate in Sydney is $157 a sqm.’’