Prime office vacancy rates in Hong Kong’s main business district dropped to single digits for the first time in 26 months, lifting overall rents in the city’s struggling office property market, according to JLL.

The citywide prime office vacancy rate also inched down to 13.4 per cent in February from 13.5 per cent a month earlier, with the Wan Chai and Causeway Bay area recording a decrease to 10.2 per cent from 10.3 per cent in its third straight month of falling rates.

Given the improvement, Central’s grade A office rents rose 3.5 per cent in the first two months of the year, after rising 1.2 per cent in January and 2.3 per cent in February, JLL said. This increase supported a 1.1 per cent month-on-month rise in overall office rents in February, the company said.

“This trend is expected to persist throughout the year, while noncore districts such as Kowloon East are likely to remain under pressure,” Barnes said.