New Delhi, Jan 22 (IANS): Around 47.4 million square feet of office space was leased out in 2018 across nine major cities in the country, with an annual growth of 5.3 per cent, CBRE said in a report.

Bengaluru recorded the largest share among the cities in terms of space leased out in the commercial segment, said the report named "Realty Bytes: CBRE".

"By the end of 2018, gross leasing activity surpassed the 45 million square feet-mark and touched about 47.4 million square feet, recording a growth of 5.3 per cent year on year.

Bangalore (Bengaluru), followed by NCR (National Capital Region), Hyderabad and Mumbai dominated office leasing even on an annual basis, accounting for almost 80 per cent of the overall space take-up," it said.

The other cities where the survey was carried out were Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Kochi, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Technology corporates, with a share of 40 per cent, led the office space take-up in the country during fourth quarter of 2018, followed by engineering and manufacturing (17 per cent), and banking and financial service institutions 13 per cent companies, as per the report.

Flexible space operators accounted for about 6 per cent of quarterly leasing, taking-up space in core and secondary locations. Other sectors such as research and consulting (5 per cent) also contributed to leasing activity.

Speaking on the outlook for the sector, Anshuman Magazine, Head of India, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE said: "Office leasing activity is expected to remain stable in the short term, backed by corporates looking to expand or consolidate their operations. Similar to last year, we expect that occupiers would put in greater efforts to build in flexibility in their portfolios due to changes in the business environment."