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The overall vacancy levels in the malls has declined by 0.5 pc to 15.01 pc on account of constant leasing activity while supply has been only 0.79 msf gets added in Kolkata and Pune, according to a survey.

Transaction activity led to lessening in overall mall vacancy of Pune and Kolkata despite the addition of fresh mall space. Pune witnessed the opening of a new mall measuring 800,000 sf, while Kolkata witnessed the partial opening of a mall with only anchors stores operational at 60,000 sf.

Surged leasing and lack of infusion of new mall space led to a 2 pc low in Bengaluru’s mall vacancy. Chennai and Ahmedabad witnessed slight reduction .While, Mumbai and NCR however recorded slight increase in vacancy levels in various malls.

As per second quarter 2013 estimates, 9 malls were expected to be operational by the third quarter in this fiscal. In Bengaluru, one mall got deferred due to construction delays while the other went on hold due to liquidity issues to commence.

In Chennai out of two malls, one got delayed to early next quarter due to delay in construction, while the other mall had to be late due to lack of sufficient demand from retailers.

A mall space of 225,000 sq ft was tardy in NCR to later quarters because of delays in acquiring necessary approvals.

The internal reconstruction of a mall in Mysore road led to 13 pc rental drop, 8 pc dip in Pune owing to oversupply of mall spaces. Main streets like South Ex I & II in NCR, CP recorded 4-5 pc rise in rentals owing newer transactions at higher price points.