The office lettings market in Brussels increased by over +250% in Q4 2009 compared to Q3 2009 and by +150% on the same quarter in 2008, making it way above the European average and the highest increase since Q4 2005, according to Capital Economics.

The company believes that there are two main reasons for the increase in office take-up, employment has only fallen -1% since its peak in Q4 2008, one of the lowest in the Euro-zone where overall it has fallen -2.3% and in the service sector, sentiment noticeably improved in Q4 2009 and may have acted as a catalyst for occupier property decisions, with several large deals completed in the quarter.

James Purvis, property economist at Capital Economics, said: ‘The upshot is that while office occupier demand in Brussels may now be recovering, high volumes of speculative completions may well push the vacancy rate a little higher this year. Indeed, while we are cautiously optimistic that Q4’s take-up figures might be the start of an improving trend, any rise in take-up may not be strong enough to stabilise office rental values in Belgium this year.’

However despite the increases in occupier demand, there is still a significant excess of supply in the market, with vacancy rates increasing from 10.9% in Q3 to 11.1% in Q4 2009.