Île-de-France lacks significant rental deals

It's a fact that the office market in the Paris Region is running out of steam. "425,000 m² were leased in^Q1, down 4% on the same period last year and 18% on the ten-year average", points out Arthur Saunier, Director of the Office Agency at Newmark, in a dedicated study.

This is due to the effects of a lacklustre macroeconomic environment, with slowing growth, a deteriorating job market and falling business investment. Not to mention a more unpredictable international environment due to the changing policies of the new US administration...

The downturn in rental activity mainly concerns large surface areas, notes the consultancy. Only 13 transactions over 5,000 m² were recorded in Paris Region in^Q1 2025, representing a volume of 140,000 m², down 24% year-on-year. On the other hand, take-up volumes of less than 5,000 m² rose by 7% year-on-year, thanks to the dynamism of intermediate-sized spaces (1,000 - 5,000 m²).

Paris is less dominant than last year, accounting for 41% of take-up volumes in the Paris Region in^Q1 2025, compared to 53% a year ago. While activity is stable in the CBD, it is slowing down in other districts, weighed down by the lack of major movements.

Outside Paris, the strong performance of western markets was the highlight of the quarter, with an 18% rise in volumes placed in La Défense and five major transactions in the Western Crescent.

The dynamic was also positive in the inner suburbs, where take-up was even higher than the ten-year average in the eastern and northern regions. Accounting for 58% of total take-up in the inner suburbs in 2024, the Paris Region's administration also signed the largest transaction of the 1st quarter 2025: the lease by the Seine-Saint-Denis department of the 29,000 m² Pulse site in Saint-Denis.

" In the current climate of uncertainty, the major peripheral markets are undoubtedly benefiting from the real estate rationalization policies of their users, whether government agencies or private companies", sums up Arthur Saunier. "Lessees benefit from advantageous lease terms - with incentives averaging between 30% and 50%, compared with 20% or less in Paris - and an abundance of supply."