Improved economic data and a slowdown in the correction of real estate prices has failed to offset concerns of shrinking labour markets and an oversupply of space, RICS said, squeezing expectations for rents in almost all world regions.
Some 97 percent survey respondents in Spain and Ireland reported a fall rather than a rise in rents in the quarter to end-June, while those in Singapore and the Ukraine were gloomier still, with 100 percent of respondents citing falling rents.
The findings of the survey, which has been running for five years, make unsettling reading for landlords, many of which are facing rising pressure to offer expensive concessions to attract or keep tenants.
In April, UK real estate investment trust British Land granted a four-year rent-free period to lure Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International to its Ropemaker office development in the City of London.
BUYER DEMAND
While transaction activity continues to drop in most world markets, a few countries saw an increase in investment interest in the second quarter, RICS said.
Almost 46 percent more respondents reported an increase in bidders in the UK, the market broadly seen as the furthest advanced in its real estate correction.
"The dearth in global finance continues to impede investment activity with transactions in decline across more than 80 percent of countries surveyed," RICS Chief Economist Simon Rubinsohn said.
"However, higher yields may be starting to attract interest particularly in economies such as the UK and Hong Kong where prices have already corrected significantly and borrowing and saving rates are at historic lows," he said.
Modest falls in real estate values were seen in some emerging markets but RICS said tenant demand in China and India had risen for the first time since 2008.
The sharpest swing in sentiment was found in Hong Kong, where 57 percent more Chartered Surveyors reported a rise rather than a fall in commercial real estate values, up from a negative balance of 81 percent last quarter.
"In emerging markets, those countries tied into Chinese trade relationships appear to be weathering the storm better than most, with parts of Latin America and Africa including Mauritius, Nigeria and Ghana holding up relatively well," Rubinsohn said.
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