Retail Space Leasing Drops 6% in Apr-Jun

New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) Leasing of retail spaces in shopping malls and high-street fell 6 per cent to 2.24 million square feet during the April-June period across eight major cities, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Leasing of retail spaces stood at 2.39 million square feet in the year-ago period.

Shopping malls accounted for 45 per cent of the leasing volume in the April-June quarter at 1.01 million square feet. High streets' share in total leasing activities stood at 55 per cent (1.23 million square feet).

Suvishesh Valsan, Head, Research India at Cushman & Wakefield noted that vacancies in premium shopping malls have fallen.

"Looking ahead, we remain optimistic. Nearly 4 million square feet of new Grade A supply is expected in the second half of the year, particularly across key metros such as Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and Hyderabad," he added.

Among eight cities, the leasing of retail spaces in Ahmedabad fell 63 per cent to 0.04 million square feet during April-June from 0.11 million sq ft in the year-ago period.

In Bengaluru, the leasing declined 44 per cent to 0.18 million sq ft from 0.32 million sq ft.

Retail space leasing in Delhi-NCR fell 41 per cent to 0.3 million sq ft from 0.41 million sq ft.

In Hyderabad, the retail space leasing fell 22 per cent to 0.76 million sq ft from 0.98 million sq ft.

Retail space leasing in Kolkata fell 23 per cent to 0.05 million sq ft from 0.06 million sq ft.

However, leasing activities rose in Chennai, Mumbai and Pune.

Leasing of retail spaces in Chennai rose to 0.16 million sq ft from 0.10 million sq ft.

In Mumbai, the demand more than doubled to 0.52 million sq ft from 0.20 million sq ft.

Retail leasing in Pune also jumped more than two-fold to 0.23 from 0.09 million sq ft.