Our Market Makers dataset shows the top 10 public transactions in the Prime Office Costs markets. Across the world, we are seeing a wide distribution of types of businesses with both domestic and international cross border deals having a strong showing. Overall, our sample shows positivity in the office market with the largest segment of our dataset being businesses opting to renew in their current location, followed by businesses seeking to expand their business. Despite significant headwinds such as the increasing costs of renting and global macroeconomic uncertainty, businesses are continuing to place a high value on prime office space in leading world cities.

Traditional office occupiers such as Finance, Government Services, and Legal continue to remain at the top of global occupiers. Despite the perception that Tech businesses have moved towards a more hybrid working model, the industry remains one of the most active sectors in our sample, defying expectations and displaying strength in the office leasing industry. Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical, and Consulting are the only industries within our sample which saw more cross-border than domestic transactions in the second half of 2023, largely due to the small number of large multi-national transactions that occurred.

While there has been much discussion about the changing nature of the office market, our data shows signs of positivity. Only a small minority of businesses in our sample are choosing to consolidate their office space in the face of cost pressures, flight to prime buildings, and remote work trends. We are seeing a large portion of new deals for expansions, relocations, and new set-ups, accounting for 40% of the sample deals for H2 2023. Strong results in these categories emphasise the health of the office sector, as businesses of all types are growing their office footprints in major markets across the world despite headwinds.

Relocations made up the largest portion of our sample with particular interest from Finance and Tech companies, as these industries tend to lead the way with flight to prime as a means to retain and attract new talent. As the global economy and asset values grew throughout 2023, the Finance sector also led the way in expansions with 21 transactions, demonstrating that asset managers and banking institutions globally are growing in major business markets as the value of their holdings increases. Legal businesses led the way in renewals as the majority of these businesses are domestic non-cross border entities and are already based out of prime office locations in their regional market hub. Overall, major business cities around the world are continuing to attract occupiers from all sectors of industry, both local and global, to participate in their regions commercial real estate market.