Signals from 2025: What India’s Office Market Tells Us
- January 9, 2026
Commercial real estate in 2025 didn’t make noise.
It didn’t surge. It didn’t stall.
Instead, it sorted itself out.
Across India’s key office markets, demand held steady. But beneath that surface stability, something more important happened: standards shifted. Decisions became more deliberate. Preferences became clearer. And the market began rewarding a very specific kind of building.
Here’s what the data from 2025 actually tells us — without hype.
Demand Held. Scrutiny Increased.
India’s top six cities recorded 75.2 million sq.ft. of office leasing in 2025, virtually unchanged from the previous year. On paper, that might look unremarkable.
In reality, it’s instructive.
When volumes remain steady in a changing economic environment, it usually means one thing: companies didn’t pause — they filtered. The market didn’t shrink; it refined.
Pune Stepped Forward — Quietly but Clearly
Among the strongest signals of this shift came from Pune.
In 2025, the city recorded 8.8 million sq.ft. of office absorption, its highest ever. That matters not because it’s a record, but because of what it represents.
Pune is no longer being treated as a fallback market. Increasingly, it’s receiving first-call requirements — especially from firms looking for scalable, efficient, and well-planned work environments.
With 3.5 million sq.ft. of new supply lined up and citywide rentals firming by ~3% YoY, Pune’s market behaviour suggests confidence, not speculation. Growth, but with discipline.
Big Decisions Are Still Being Made
Nearly 46% of office leasing in 2025 came from large-format deals (100,000 sq.ft. and above).
That’s an important counterpoint to the idea that companies are hesitant or uncertain. Large commitments are still happening — but they’re being made selectively, in buildings that justify the scale.
This is where quality begins to separate itself from availability.
GCCs Are Here to Stay
Another defining signal from 2025 is the continued rise of Global Capability Centres (GCCs).
Accounting for 38% of total office leasing, GCCs are no longer peripheral operations. Across technology, BFSI, engineering, and consulting, these centres now house core teams, decision-making functions, and long-term mandates.
Their presence reinforces a broader truth: India’s office demand is increasingly driven by long-horizon occupiers, not short-term capacity planning.
Flex Has Matured into Strategy
Flexible workspaces made up 17% of leasing activity in 2025.
That number matters less as a percentage and more as a signal. Flex is no longer overflow space or a stopgap. It’s being used intentionally — as part of portfolio design, expansion planning, and workforce distribution.
This reflects a more nuanced understanding of how offices are used, not whether they’re needed.
Technology Still Anchors Demand — But Doesn’t Decide Alone
The IT-BPM sector contributed 34% of office leasing in 2025, remaining the backbone of India’s office market.
What’s changed is not the sector’s dominance, but the criteria it uses. Increasingly, differentiation is coming from building-grade, efficiency, reliability, and experience — not just location or rent.
In other words, volume still comes from tech. Preference comes from performance.
Sustainability Is Becoming a Baseline
One of the clearest structural shifts visible in 2025 is on the supply side.
Approximately 70% of new Grade-A office supply is now green-certified. That’s no longer a niche trend — it’s a market expectation.
Sustainability has moved from “good to have” to assumed. Not as a marketing story, but as part of how buildings are specified, evaluated, and approved.
What This Means Going into 2026
If 2025 taught the office market anything, it’s this:
Buildings are being chosen more carefully. Locations are being judged more critically. Systems, efficiency, and long-term operability are carrying more weight than ever before.
2026 is unlikely to reward more construction or louder positioning.
It will reward buildings that perform — consistently and quietly.
That’s the real signal from 2025.
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