Greek Office Rents in Two Biggest Cities Fall, Kathimerini Says

Athens and Thessaloniki ranked among cities with the biggest drops in office rents in the 12 months to March 2012, Kathimerini reported, citing a report by CBRE Group Inc.

Office rents in Athens dropped 13.5 percent in the period, making it the city with the fifth-largest decline in the survey of 133 cities worldwide, while Greece’s second-largest city Thessaloniki was third with a fall of 16.3 percent, the newspaper said. Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi were the two cities with the biggest decline, Kathimerini said.

Office rents in Athens were at their lowest level in 17 years in the first quarter of this year. In the most expensive area, rents were at 24 euros a month per square meter compared with as much as 35 euros a few years ago, Kathimerini said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Natalie Weeks in Athens at nweeks2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jerrold Colten at jcolten@bloomberg.net