There have been many obstacles that corporate investment in Mexico has had to go through after the changes that came to stay regarding the use of office spaces. The needs are different, both on the side of the companies and of the collaborators.

2022 was a litmus test for this important real estate investment sector. This market at the national level registered between January and November 2022 a gross demand that exceeded 770 thousand square meters, a figure 77% higher than that registered in the months of 2021.

However, if we analyze the indicator of net demand, the figure is more representative since it includes the spaces that were vacated and that had an effect during several quarters of 2020 and 2021. It is during 2022 that unemployment has managed to stabilize both in the capital of the country as in other main cities such as Monterrey y Guadalajara.

Check here: Vacancy and office prices in Querétaro are at pre-pandemic levels

For this reason, 2023 is coming as the year of a sustained recovery, which we estimate will continue quarter by quarter. Industrial activity is a great ally to stimulate the demand for corporate spaces, since some companies that seek to expand or settle for the first time in Mexico will also demand office space and this also affects the demand for services related to accounting activities. administrative and legal, among many others.

For example, in Mexico City between January and November 2022, gross demand exceeded 518,000 square meters, an amount 100% higher than what was registered in the eleven months of 2021. Similarly, net demand runs two consecutive quarters with quarterly average figures of 65 thousand square meters, after the negative figure registered in the first quarter of the year.

In 2023, the capital of the country will follow the path of downward adjustment of the vacancy that began to decrease in August 2022 and with the scenario of prices that will remain stable around the average registered in November 2022, since the current supply conditions will still give renters a head start into the new year.

In some submarkets of the city we will be able to see the beginning of constructions that until now have maintained caution. Buildings in sizes that do not yet exceed 10,000 square meters could begin in the middle of the year. Mixed-use projects will continue to set the standard throughout 2023, as the mix of uses and diversification of real estate products favor risk reduction.

Of interest: Real estate innovation, fundamental axis of the change from traditional to technological

For its part, the Monterrey corporate market reached during the three quarters of 2022, a similar level of net demand to the one it maintained in 2019 in a similar period prior to the pandemic. It has been the only market nationwide where a construction project began in 2022, which could be maintained in 2023 in a market where the average vacancy has already registered 16.2% for November 2022.

Guadalajara and Querétaro also expect to gradually increase gross demand in 2023 to continue adjusting their vacancies downward. Guadalajara in November 2022 registered 15.36%, while Querétaro reached 16.95%, giving signs of a slow but sustained absorption.

Emerging markets such as Mérida, León y Puebla will maintain their commitment to the impact of the growth of the industrial sector in their regions, which permeates towards a greater demand for office space that complements the new warehouses being occupied.

In general, flexible spaces and coworking models will continue to boom in 20123 since they have managed to interpret the expectations of the tenants who demand options tailored to their business models, in terms of spaces, costs, and possibilities of growth and decline.