Hyderabad has emerged as the world’s third most affordable office location in 2011 in a list prepared by global realty consultant DTZ, which has also named Chennai and Pune among the top five such positions. According to DTZ’s latest study ‘Global Occupancy Costs – Offices’, Surabaya in Indonesia and Qingdao in China were placed in the top two positions of the chart as the most affordable office locations in the world last year.

“While Tier II cities in India and China dominate the list of top 10 most affordable markets globally, Surabaya in Indonesia remains number one,” DTZ said in the report. The consultant said Hong Kong, London, Geneva, Tokyo and Zurich were the five most expensive office markets in 2011.

DTZ said Surabaya and Qingdao saw average rentals of $ 1,680 and $ 2,380 per workstation a year, respectively in 2011.
Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune followed the top two places with rentals of $ 2,430, $ 2,570 and $ 2,590 a year per workstation respectively, it added.

The study showed that Hong Kong was costliest office place with an annual rental of $ 25,160 per workstation in 2011, followed by London and Geneva at $ 22,590 and $ 18,740, respectively. DTZ, however, said many cities across the world are likely to witness decline in their rentals during this year.

“Under the downside scenario, 2012 offers occupiers a window of opportunity in which to realise cost savings as rents decline… In the top five least affordable cities of Paris, Tokyo, Geneva, London and Hong Kong, office rents fall in 2012 under the euro break-up scenario,” it added. Occupiers in Rome and Milan are likely to benefit from falling occupancy costs over the next five years as sharp decreases in rents are expected in 2012 and 2013, DTZ said.

It further said office rentals in low-cost Indian cities may see double-digit falls in this year.