The Hamburg office market recorded subdued activity in the first half of 2026. After a take-up of approximately 99,000 m² in the first quarter, leasing performance decreased to around 91,000 m² in the second quarter. This resulted in a cumulative take-up of approximately 190,000 m² by mid-year, representing a 13% reduction compared to the same period last year. Matthis Rabels, Senior Real Estate Consultant at Angermann Real Estate Advisory AG, noted that Hamburg office tenants are scrutinising their leasing decisions more intensively under the current challenging economic and political conditions.
Rent development and space availability
The average rent rose moderately from 22.70 €/m² to 22.80 €/m² during the reporting period. The prime rent, however, remained stable at 37.00 €/m². In parallel, office vacancy increased over the course of the second quarter of 2026 from approximately 913,000 m² to around 921,000 m². This corresponds to a vacancy rate of 6.4%. Matthis Rabels emphasised that despite the increased vacancy, the availability and marketability of office space are highly dependent on the specific location, space concept, and quality. No easing of space shortages in the premium segment due to expiring leases is expected in the coming months.
Focus locations and sectors
Hamburg City maintained its position as the strongest office location in terms of take-up with around 47,200 m² in the first half of 2026. This was followed by City Süd with approximately 27,100 m² and HafenCity with about 26,300 m². In a sector comparison, the transport, shipping, and logistics sector dominated with a leasing performance of around 26,600 m². Behind this were IT/multimedia with approximately 21,800 m² and the consulting sector with around 14,700 m².
The largest number of leases, a total of 113, were concluded in the first half of 2026 in the segment between 250 m² and 700 m². These contracts represented a leasing performance of approximately 50,900 m², accounting for 27% of total take-up. The largest share of the total take-up, 42%, related to properties over 1,500 m² with a volume of approximately 79,700 m², distributed across 19 leases. For the second half of the year, according to Matthis Rabels, it will be crucial to see to what extent the fundamentally existing demand can be more efficiently converted into concrete leases.
