The market records more deals at the end of the first half of the year, but less space
The Hamburg office letting market was certainly not lacking in dynamism in the first half of 2026, but there was a lack of deals in excess of the 2,500 m² that are sorely lacking in take-up. The number of deals rose slightly from 260 to 267 compared to the same period last year, but at the same time the letted space fell by 18 per cent to 189,300 m².
Alexander von Bülow, Branch Manager and Senior Team Leader Office Leasing at JLL Hamburg: “At present, Hamburg’s office leasing market is focusing primarily on small size classes. In the first half of 2026, the average deal size was only 709 m², and the number of lettings in excess of 2,500 m² has almost halved compared to the previous year.” As a result, the total area in these categories fell from a total of 98,600 m² to 65,700 m².
“At present, numerous applications for a total of more than 200,000 m² are still on the market, some of which will be completed this year. However, there are hardly any search mandates for more than 10,000 m²,” says von Bülow , looking at the current demand situation in the Hanseatic city.
Among the largest deals of the year so far are the start of construction of the MSC headquarters in HafenCity, where the shipping company will move into 13,000 m² as an owner-occupier. The same applies to the 8,600 m² that InnoGames has secured in City Süd. In the second quarter, Deutsche Bank also added 7,600 m² in the Emporio in the city centre. Also in the second quarter, the commercial law firm Baker Tilly leased 4,700 m² in Block V at Brooktorkai 11-16.
So far this year, the main active sectors have been business-related service providers (32,800 m²) as well as the transport, traffic and warehousing sector (22,300 m²) and the IT sector (22,200 m²). Almost a quarter of all deals were in the city centre, followed by the City South submarket.
Once again, the vacancy rate in Hamburg rose slightly – by 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous quarter to 7.2 percent. Compared to the same time last year, the increase is 110 basis points. The prime rent remained at 41 euros after jumping by five euros in the fourth quarter of 2025.
