While the Indian residential market stabilizes amid declining sales and new supply, the commercial office real estate is on an upswing , recording a robust rise  across the top 7 cities.

Lateest Anarock Research data reveals a 40% yearly rise in net office absorption – from approx. 19.08  million sq. ft. in H1 2024 against approx. 26.8 million  sq. ft. in H1 2025.As expected, Bengaluru led with approx. 6.55 million sq. ft. office space leased in the first half of this year, against approx. 4  million sq. ft. at the end of H1 2024 – a 64% yearly increase.

In terms of annual net absorption growth, Pune recorded the highest with 188% – from approx. 1.32  million sq. ft. in H1 2024 to approx. 3.8 million sq. ft. in H1 2025.Kolkata was the only city to see a drop amounting to  51% in net office absorption – from approx. 0.93 million sq. ft. in H1 2024 to approx. 0.45 million sq. ft. in H1 2025

Source: ANAROCK Research & Advisory

Surging Office Supply  

In terms of new office completions, the top 7 cities recorded a 25% increase in the period – from approx. 19.65 million sq. ft. in H1 2024 to approx. 24.51 million sq. ft. in H1 2025. Again, Bengaluru superseded all other top cities with a total new office supply of approx. 6.91  million sq. ft. added in first half of 2025, against 5.5  million sq. ft. in H1 2024 – a 26% yearly growth.

MMR and Hyderabad were the only cities to see a drop in new supply addition in H1 2025 – by 45% and 17%, respectively. MMR added approx. 1.9 Mn sq. ft. office space in H1 2025 as against approx. 3.47 million  sq. ft. in H1 2024. Hyderabad saw approx. 4.7 million sq. ft. of new supply in H1 2025, against 5.68 million sq. ft. in H1 2024.Interestingly, Pune recorded the highest yearly jump in new office supply – a massive 533% – from just 0.9 million sq. ft. in H1 2024 to over 5.7  million sq. ft. in H1 2025

Source: ANAROCK Research & Advisory

According to Peush Jain, MD- Commercial Leasing & Advisory, Anarock Group, the office real estate market was clearly ahead of its residential counterpart in H1 2025 “Both net absorption and new office completions saw high growth, largely because of India’s enduring economic strength. Also, overall office leasing by GCCs across cities continues to grow in 2025, and large US-based corporates continue to lease large spaces across Indian cities.The positive influence of the Indian economy’s continued highest GDP growth predictions globally on the office market cannot be overstated. Amid the ongoing policy chaos in the US, India is seen as a heaven of continuing and dependable long-term stability and growth”, he says.

Sector-wise, IT/ITeS continued to dominate office space demand in H1 2025 with a 29% overall leasing share, followed by the coworking sector with a 22% share and BFSI with 18%. “Interestingly, H1 2025 saw demand from these three sectors and also consultancy businesses and e-commerce rise by 1% each against H1 2024. On the other hand, manufacturing & industrial and other sectors’ demand share decreased”, adds Jain.

Marginal Decline in Office Vacancies 

Office space vacancies across the top 7 cities collectively dropped to 16.30% in H1 2025 – a marginal improvement over the 16.70% in H1 2024. Despite reduced new office supply in MMR and Hyderabad in the first half, office vacancies increased in both cities – from 13% in H1 2024 to 15.10% in H1 2025 in MMR, and from 25.50% to 26.60% in Hyderabad. Currently, Hyderabad has the highest vacancy rates among the top 7 cities.

Marginal Rise in Office Rentals

Average monthly office rentals increased by a marginal 5% – from INR 84/sq. ft. in H1 2024 to INR 88/sq. ft. in H1 2025. Chennai recorded the highest 6% yearly rise in monthly office rentals – from INR 72/sq. ft. in H1 2024 to INR 76/sq. ft. in H1 2025. Both Bengaluru and NCR recorded 5% yearly increases.