New York and San Francisco have emerged as the most expensive flexible office markets worldwide, while Berlin is one of the fastest-growing European markets, according to Workthere.

Private office desk spaces in New York cost an average of $961 per month, closely followed by San Francisco at $950 and, in third place, Singapore, at $834 per month.

Ashley Swan, Executive Director, Commercial Leasing, Savills Singapore, said: “We have seen a strong recovery in the last few months as more people start to return to the workplace and due to Singapore's increasing popularity among start-ups. As we wait for new centres to open progressively over the next few years, the market remains relatively tight with vacant seats being snapped up quickly. Delays in construction mean that this trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.”

Griffin Foley, Northeast Lead, Workthere Americas, said that the figure was mostly reflective of the fact that occupiers were gravitating to the best flexible spaces: "The flexible market is now dominated by high quality spaces because occupiers are focused on cultivating an updated office strategy around a space employees want to be in, and in an environment that enhances their desired culture."

Foley added that businesses were seeking to locate in places near subway stations to make the commute more convenient and limit travel times.

London, one of only three European cities in the top ten, comes fourth in the ranking, at $803 per desk per month, but it was closely followed by Berlin at $800. Outside of the top ten were Amsterdam ($603) and Copenhagen ($596).  

Meanwhile, Berlin’s flexible market has limited supply with a vacancy rate of 3.5%. The growth of the flexible market is being driven by science, digital and technology sectors, keeping it buoyant during the Covid-19 pandemic, where the flex market only saw a 1.4% decrease in space during the two years of the pandemic.

This growth is set to continue, said Workthere, as Tesla prepares to begin production of electric vehicles from its first European manufacturing plant, located near the city; there is also a plentiful supply of venture capital funding for innovative start-ups.

Ed Bouterse, head of Workthere Europe, said: “The market is now extremely tight and an office for between 30-50 people is hard to find today, while the maximum discount achievable on larger deals is only 8-12%. All the big operators are opening new locations this August.”

Hong Kong, once the world’s most expensive office market, was in seventh place. In January, Savills reported that the office supply had outstripped demand in the city, causing rents to fall and concessions to rise in order to attract tenants.