Vacancy rates for grade A offices in Taipei dropped to 2.36 percent last quarter as robust demand and a lack of new supply helped the market avoid the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (JLL) said on Tuesday.
The office market is poised to benefit from a sustained recovery, with a 3 to 5 percent increase in rents for the rest of this year, the local branch of the US broker said.
The second quarter saw a take-up rate of 3,212 ping (10,618m2), keeping vacancy rates at their second-lowest level in history, JLL Taiwan senior market director Brian Liu (劉建宇) told a news conference in Taipei, calling the forecast conservative amid tight supply.
“Rents at landmark buildings in the city’s prime Xinyi District (信義) already soared by double-digit percentage points this year, and landlords will continue to have the upper hand,” said Liu, whose company controls more than 50 percent of the local leasing market.
Taipei’s resilient showing bucked regional trends, as vacancy rates rose 6.7 percent in Seoul, 1.7 percent in Singapore, 1.2 percent in Hong Kong and 1.1 percent in Beijing, JLL data showed.
The pandemic is accelerating supply chain realignment as evidenced by the Ministry of Economic Affairs receiving investment pledges of more than NT$1 trillion (US$33.78 billion) by the middle of May, JLL said.
Taiwan’s efficiency in containing the spread of COVID-19 would enable companies to proceed with investment plans on schedule, whereas in many other parts of the world, attempts at expansion have been pushed back by lockdowns, the company said.
Rents held steady from the previous quarter at NT$2,809 per ping, with rents in Xinyi standing at NT$3,411 per ping, still more affordable than upscale offices in other international cities, JLL said.
JLL Taiwan managing director Tony Chao (趙正義) said that the pandemic might permanently reshape people’s lives, including working arrangements.
Remote working and learning would stay and gain traction, as would the coworking model, which would reduce the need for physical office space, Chao added.
However, companies would maintain greater space between staffers and set aside more social areas in the post-pandemic era to help employees stay healthy and motivated, meaning that overall office space might remain at similar levels, Chao said.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it is teaming up with Nvidia Corp to develop a new chip for artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers that uses architecture licensed from Arm Holdings PLC. The new product is targeting AI researchers, data scientists and students rather than the mass PC market, the company said. The announcement comes as MediaTek makes efforts to add AI capabilities to its Dimensity chips for smartphones and tablets, Genio family for the Internet of Things devices, Pentonic series of smart TVs, Kompanio line of Arm-based Chromebooks, along with the Dimensity auto platform for vehicles. MeidaTek, the world’s largest chip designer for smartphones
TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise. The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance
FUTURE TECH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would give the keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which is also expected to highlight autonomous vehicles Gadgets, robots and vehicles imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) would once again vie for attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, as vendors behind the scenes would seek ways to deal with tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump. The annual Consumer Electronics Show opens formally in Las Vegas tomorrow, but preceding days are packed with product announcements. AI would be a major theme of the show, along with autonomous vehicles ranging from tractors and boats to lawn mowers and golf club trollies. “Everybody is going to be talking about AI,” Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said. “From fridges to ovens
RSS