Corporate global mobility is increasing, in 1998 the average number of internationally mobile employees in a large organisation was 200, that number is predicted to have grown to 375 by 2020. This increase highlights the importance of the rental market in key centres of business around the world and how they work.

The review looks in detail at the increasing demand for prime rental properties by international assignees working for multinational firms. It also contains new data from the Q1 2012 Global Rental Index.

Below are key headlines for the Global Corporate Lettings Review and Global Rental Index.

Knight Frank Global Corporate Lettings Review 2012

• Economic instability, and more specifically the Eurozone’s debt crisis is the most critical factor to future demand in corporate global lettings
• The New World cities are yet to rival their old world counterparts in terms of volume. Developing markets will see volumes increase as the focus of growth shifts further south and east across the globe in the next decade
• Hong Kong and Singapore have seen an upturn in expatriate demand due to new industry sectors and emerging markets in the last two years
• Since their 2009 lows, prime rents in London, Hong Kong and New York have seen growth of 26%, 16% and 38% respectively
• Budgets vs. expectations are resulting in employees beginning to take more ownership of their own home searches rather than relying on HR
• Younger executives are showing a growing willingness to expand their searches to more peripheral locations to secure a larger property at a lower rent
• Shanghai has seen a 54% increase in its expat community since 2005
• Rules in Mumbai preventing foreign home ownership have created a thriving prime rental market

The performance of prime lettings markets worldwide is increasingly influenced by corporate demand. We surveyed the opinion of our global lettings teams to establish what effect the global economic downturn has had on their corporate market’s activity and on their clients’ relocation budgets. We also asked our global teams for their views as to what risks and opportunities lie ahead for the sector.

Global Rental Index, Q1 2012

• The Knight Frank Prime Global Rental Index rose by 1.7% in the 12 months to March 2012
• Prime residential rents rose by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2012
• Nairobi was the strongest performer on an annual basis (up 14%) and Moscow the strongest on a quarterly basis (up 6%)
• Luxury rents in Manama (Bahrain) fell the most (down 20%) compared to a year earlier
• Europe, despite tumultuous economic conditions, saw prime residential rents rise on average by 2.2% in the year to March 2012

Prime rents globally rose by less than 2% in the year to March 2012, the weakest annual rate of growth since Q4 2009. The Eurozone contagion, its impact on business confidence and the resulting dip in corporate relocations has led to slower growth in the prime lettings market.

Courtesy: Knight Frank

For further information, please contact:

Daisy Ziegler, London Sales and Lettings PR Manager:
+44 (0)20 7861 1031
[email protected]