At the end of September 2026, the Hamburg office market recorded a total take-up of around 270,000 m². Although the 300,000 m² mark has not yet been reached – unlike in the corresponding periods of the previous two years (2025: around 308,000 m², 2024: around 301,000 m²) – the Hanseatic city can look back on dynamic market activity so far this year: The number of registered transactions was actually 7 per cent higher than in the first nine months of the comparable years 2025 and 2024. This should be seen as a clear indication that the decline in turnover is not due to lower demand, but rather to the significant changes that have since taken place in companies’ requirements for office space. This is the conclusion of an analysis by BNP Paribas Real Estate.
“This trend is reflected above all in the fact that deal categories with floor areas of up to 1,000 m² and 2,000 m² respectively account for historically high market shares of just under 44 per cent and over 62 per cent of the total volume. By comparison with figures over many years, the shares in these categories amount to just under 33 per cent and just over 51 per cent of the total. In the third quarter, letting activity in Hamburg took place almost exclusively in the segments up to 7,000 m², meaning that the leases signed by MSC-Germany, InnoGames and Deutsche Bank in the first half of the year continue to be the most significant drivers,” said Heiko Fischer, Managing Director and Head of the Hamburg branch of BNP Paribas Real Estate GmbH.
In terms of prime rents, demand for the very best premium space in the prime sub-areas has risen by over 8 per cent since Q3 2025, reaching €39 per square metre. Since the start of the year, however, the top segment has so far stabilised at the high level it has reached.
A very broad range of sectors due to small-scale lettings; Hamburg continues to have a moderate vacancy rate
On the user side, demand is broadly diversified: the ‘Other’ category (just over 24 per cent) and the combined ‘other services’ category (almost 23 per cent) lead by a wide margin, together accounting for almost half of the total. Among the individually reported sectors, transport and traffic (14 per cent) as well as public administration and trade (around 11 per cent each) were the most prominent. Whilst the former was driven not least by the major contract with MSC-Germany (13,000 m²), the public sector’s turnover is based on several small and medium-sized contracts, including those with the Academy of Finance and Tax Law (Hamburg-Bahrenfeld) and Sprinkenhof GmbH (Hamburg-Horn), each covering around 6,000 m².
On the supply side, the vacancy rate has risen by 7 per cent over the past twelve months and currently stands at around 947,000 m². Compared with the second quarter, however, a marginal decline of -0.6 per cent over the last three months suggests that the vacancy rate has remained stable. With a vacancy rate of 6.4 per cent, the market remains at a low level even when compared with other top locations nationwide. The low proportion of modern space within the vacancy pool – at just 28 per cent – remains striking, with hardly any new-build space available in central locations.
Outlook
The performance of the Hamburg office market so far this year has shown that dynamic market activity does not necessarily go hand in hand with high take-up. At present, letting activity in Hamburg is predominantly driven by the numerous smaller transactions, which account for 62 per cent of all deals in the categories up to 2,000 m².
On the one hand, this is attributable to the structural shift towards smaller and often very high-spec office spaces in prime micro-locations. However, the continuing sluggish economic performance and the difficult-to-predict impact of AI technologies on the labour market are also key drivers in this context.
On the other hand, there are still several major search mandates for the Hamburg market area, which are likely to boost take-up somewhat in the short to medium term. Whilst these could be realised relatively quickly within the existing portfolio, even in the short term, large deals in the prime segment are currently only feasible through pre-letting. “It can therefore be assumed that upward pressure on prime rents will remain high, even if further increases are not yet directly on the horizon,” predicts Heiko Fischer.
