Singapore ranks fourth in Apac for office space taken up by legal firms: Savills
Research by Savills reveals that Singapore rated fourth amongst Asia Pacific (Apac) cities in with regards to leasing action in the law market for the initial half of 2024. The city-state came behind Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong.
In China, local law companies are relocating to bigger areas, countering a reduction in tangible impacts by some international companies. Chinese law firms even increase in European markets, mostly offering China-based customers and operating at lower fees than their Western counterparts.
Around the world, the city-state placed 11th. New York topped the listing, signing up 1.4 million sq ft of space leased out to legal firms in 1H2024. This represented over fifty percent of the 4.3 million sq ft leased by the world’s 15 largest legal sector.
” For Singapore, legal business have actually been fairly involved in a fairly benign leasing market,” states Ashley Swan, managing director of business at Savills Singapore. “We have observed some companies take up brand-new properties with a refreshed approach of functioning as one means of attracting and preserving talent.”
Savills also sees that law companies are significantly hopping to second urban areas when looking at growth strategies, drawn by more competitively-priced law talent. Several British law office in the UK are switching to places like Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. Similarly, some law firms are looking to Brisbane and Melbourne to strengthen growth in Australia.
According to Savills, United States metros accounted for 69% of the general legal leasing event by the largest legal markets, underpinned by market size as well as a desire for lower occupancy density by US law companies.
Globally, most law systems kept the same size of office space in 1H2024, though Savills highlights expansions in specific locations. In Europe, Middle East and Africa, 40% of business firms expanded office in the first part of the year, boosted by growths in Paris, Brussels and London.
