Office rentals globally are expected to remain stable or increase in 2010, according to global property consultancy firm Knight Frank’s annual projection for the year. Tokyo continued to command the highest office rents in the world during 2009.

Rentals in Mumbai are sometimes twice those of Manhattan. For instance if space opposite the Grand Central Station in Manhattan is in the vicinity of $3 to $4 (Rs 138 to Rs 184) a square foot a month, some of the commercial space in the Bandra-Kurla Complex command as much as $7 (Rs 322) a square foot every month, according to Knight Frank. Prices in the central business district of Nariman Point are also in the same range.

According to the Knight Frank survey, despite substantial rental falls during 2009, eight of last year’s top 10 still remained there. These are London (West End) at the second spot, Paris (3), Moscow (4), St Petersburg (5), Abu Dhabi (6), Dubai (7), Singapore (8) and Hong Kong (9) London’s City Market (10). St Petersburg and London’s City Market returned to the top 10, moving up from their 2008 positions of 13 and 12 respectively.

More than half the cities surveyed by the consultancy firm are not forecast to see further rental decline in 2010, and 40 per cent of the markets surveyed are expected to see growth in the coming year.

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