Tokyo's office vacancies rose in May to the highest level in two years as companies consolidate work space amid declining profits, the government said Thursday, noting the pace of the downturn is the sharpest in six years.
The Tokyo office vacancy rate rose for the fourth month in a row, increasing to 3.29 percent in May from 3.03 percent in April, real estate brokerage Miki Shoji Co. said in a report released through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The vacancy rate rose to the highest level since April 2006, when it was also 3.29 percent. In buildings less than a year old in central Tokyo, office vacancies surged to the highest point since September 2003, rising to 10.14 percent in May from 10.07 percent a month earlier, according to Miki Shoji.