Vacancy in the Cebu office market is expected to decline to 18.8 percent this year driven by a rebound in demand from the information technology- business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector, according to a property consultancy.
In its latest property briefing, KMC Savills Inc. said it expects building 187,900 square meters (sqm) of new building completions in the Cebu office market this year, the highest since 2015.
“However, we still forecast Cebu’s vacancy rate to drop to 18.8 percent as we expect a rebound in demand from the
IT-BPO sector assisted by the lower rents from landlords,” KMC Savills said.
This is lower than the 21.8 percent vacancy rate registered in 2022.
“Cebu Business Park (CBP) may edge closer to single-digit vacancy rates this year while most leasing activity may concentrate in Cebu IT Park (CITP) and Cebu Fringe due to the number of vacancies,” KMC Savills said.
Data from KMC showed that Cebu closed 2022 with a total net absorption of 51,800 sqm, tripling from the previous year.
CBP accounted for around half of the absorption while CITP registered a net absorption of 12,800 sqm.