According to analysis by Cushman & Wakefield, the Düsseldorf office lettings market recorded a take-up of around 41,000 m² in the first quarter of 2026. This result is 8 per cent higher than the same quarter last year, but remains 24 per cent below the five-year average and marks a generally subdued start to the year.
Subdued start to the year – major deals still lacking
The Düsseldorf office market, including Neuss and Ratingen, started 2026 with a take-up of 41,000 m². Despite a slight increase compared with the same quarter last year (+8 per cent), market momentum remains subdued. Compared with the 10-year average, the figure is actually around 46 per cent lower.Particularly striking is the complete absence of major deals exceeding 5,000 m². The largest deal in the first quarter was the letting of around 4,500 m² in the Kö Tower, followed by a letting of around 3,000 m² in Heylo to Aspen Separation GmbH, brokered by Cushman & Wakefield.
Martin Höfler, Head of Office Agency Düsseldorf and Regional Manager West at Cushman & Wakefield, assesses the market development: “The market continued to be characterised by subdued transaction activity in the first quarter. At the same time, increased market activity can be observed, particularly in relation to large-scale letting enquiries. The currently moderate transaction volume is therefore likely to pick up significantly over the course of the year.”
At the same time, a clear preference for prime locations is emerging: over half of the space taken up was in the city centre, with a particular focus on the City and Kennedydamm submarkets. This underscores the sustained demand for central, well-connected and high-quality space. On the tenant side, consultancy firms (just under 20 per cent of the transaction volume) and companies from the fields of architecture, civil engineering and project management (14 per cent) dominated market activity in the first quarter.
Rents continue to rise – demand focuses on high-quality space
The prime rent remained stable at €46.00/m² compared to the previous quarter, but is still significantly higher year-on-year (+5.7 per cent compared to Q1 2025). The average rent has risen again, reaching €20.90/m² at the end of the first quarter. This represents an increase of 4.8 per cent compared with the previous quarter and just under 16 per cent year-on-year.
The rise in the average rent despite moderate take-up is primarily attributable to increasing market segmentation: whilst basic and peripheral spaces are more severely affected by vacancy, demand is increasingly concentrated on modern, centrally located and ESG-compliant office space.
As a result, the space taken up is shifting increasingly towards higher-priced market segments.
“Due to the limited supply of high-quality space, a further rise in prime rents is likely,” said Martin Höfler.
Vacancy rates continue to rise – structural trends remain dominant
Vacancy rates in the Düsseldorf office market rose to around 1.11 million m² by the end of the first quarter of 2026, corresponding to a vacancy rate of 11.6 per cent. This represents an increase of 60 basis points compared with the previous quarter and 1.5 percentage points year-on-year.
Martin Höfler: “The rise is attributable to several factors. In addition to space returns and completions, structural developments in particular play a key role: companies are increasingly focusing on more efficient use of space and flexible working models, and are scrutinising their office utilisation more critically – overall, this regularly leads to a reduction in space when signing new leases.”
The proportion of sublet space has recently fallen slightly as a result of space returns and currently stands at just over 6 per cent of the total vacancy volume.
For the year 2026, around 140,000 m² of office space is currently under construction, of which approximately 60 per cent has been pre-let. The continuing decline in project development volume, coupled with rising demand, is likely to lead to a stabilisation of the vacancy rate and a decline in the medium term.
Martin Höfler concludes: “A mixed picture is emerging for the rest of the year. On the one hand, market activity remains characterised in the short term by continued caution among users. On the other hand, current market discussions and concrete requests for space – particularly in the segment of large-scale new leases – point to a significant upturn over the course of the year.”
