Overall vacant floor space rose to end-November to around 9.78 million square meters from 9.43 million at the end of 2008, taking the vacancy rate up to 9.3% from 9.0%, with prime rents falling some 8% to €23.20 per square meter on average. In the seven largest cities - Berlin, Dsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Stuttgart – letting activity fell to 2.3m sq.m., and was 29% below 2008. The most active office market in the nation was, as in prior years, the Bavarian capital of Munich with around 225,000 square meters leased. Dsseldorf saw the largest volume drop, down 47%, while Stuttgart, down 5%, was the only city to almost hold stable.

Looking forward, DIP said many companies this year remain uncertain and are unlikely to expand requirements short term. The consequence will be short-term contract extensions in property stock, and delays in new large-space commitments. DIP, founded in 1988, is the largest brokerage partnership in Germany and includes Aengevelt, Arnold Hertz, Ellwanger & Geiger, BUM Immobilien, Frst Immobilien, KSK-Immobilien, Robert C. Spies, Spiegelfeld International and TLG Immobilien.