SINGAPORE, June 3 (Reuters) - Tokyo leapfrogged London, Moscow and Hong Kong to become the world's most expensive city in terms of office rentals as financial institutions reduced their demand for space, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) said on Wednesday.
According to CBRE's semi-annual Global Office Occupancy Costs survey, Tokyo's Inner Central region commanded the highest rents at $183.62 per square foot (psf) per annum, higher than the $172.62 average charged by landlords in London's West End.
"Financial centers have been most significantly affected by declining occupier demand and, as one would expect, registered the most material decreases in office rents," CBRE said in a statement.
"For instance, a year ago office space in London's West End was nearly $300 per square feet, while today that space goes for $172 psf."
Moscow, number two in the previous survey released in November, came in third in the latest survey with annual rent of $170.24 psf. Hong Kong, the former number three, dropped to number four with average annual rent of $150.42.
Midtown New York was number 21 on the list with annual rent of $68.63 psf, down from number 15 in the previous ranking when office rent was $98.08 psf a year.
"In many cases, major global office markets have seen occupancy costs fall by 20 per cent or more over the last 12 months," the real estate consultancy said. Top Ten Most Expensive Markets (In US$ per sq. ft. per annum) March 09 Sept 08 1. Tokyo, (Inner Central) 183.62 184.26 2. London (West End) 172.62 248.66 3. Moscow 170.24 234.73 4. Hong Kong (CBD) 150.42 231.59 5. Tokyo (Outer Central) 149.58 151.69 6. Mumbai 131.04 170.85 7. Dubai 122.52 156.53 8. Paris 114.89 131.62 9. London (City) 103.50 146.61 10. Dublin 93.56 108.58
(Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Neil Fullick)