The interest shown by both multinational and domestic companies to situate their headquarters in modern office buildings in the central areas of Bucharest has lowered the availability rate for class A office space to 0.02% - an all-time low, according to the real estate consulting company Colliers International.

In other words, out of a finalised stock of offices with a surface of 545,000 square metres, registered at the end of the first half of the year, only 109 square metres were available, equivalent to a three-room apartment.

This being the case, companies in the banking, IT and communications sectors - the main tenants of modern buildings - have to plan their expansion strategies a few months ahead, as over 50% of offices available at the end of this year have been rented in advance.

At the end of 2006, the rate of available buildings in the Capital's main office areas stood at 1.5%.

The availability rate registered in Bucharest is probably the lowest among Europe's biggest cities, as there are many cities with an over 10% availability rate, such as Amsterdam and Munich, whilst in Moscow and Warsaw, the rate stands at 4%, according to the Jones Lang LaSalle real estate consulting company.

Rents have continued to go up, a trend that will maintain for another two years, according to consultants on the market, which has resulted in contracts signed at 20 euros/ sqm/month or even higher for buildings such as Charles de Gaulle Plaza and America House. Among the already finalised office buildings with the highest rents in the capital are Bucharest Corporate Center, Millennium Business Center and Europe House, according to the real estate consulting company Eurisko.

The interest shown by both multinational and domestic companies to situate their headquarters in modern office buildings in the central areas of Bucharest has lowered th