MarketReports: Jones Lang LaSalle's latest European office property clock report shows the combined annual take-up for the European index cities pushed above the 10 million sq m mark (107.64 million sq ft) for the first time since 2000, with Brussels, Utrecht and Frankfurt showing the largest increases of annual leasing volumes compared with 2004.

The office clock shows 27 prime office markets in their rental cycles at the end of the fourth quarter of 2005. The prime office rental index (which now covers the major cities in western, central and eastern Europe) rose by 3.4 per cent over the year as rents went up for the third consecutive quarter.

Dublin experienced the highest rental growth over both the last quarter (5.5 per cent) and the year as a whole (13.1 per cent). Dublin also saw the largest percentage drop in its vacancy level, down by 160 basis points to a current level of 15.2 per cent.

Nigel Roberts, head of European research at Jones Lang LaSalle, said: "Europe's economy has been boosted by the strong growth in the global economy led by the US and Asia. With predictions of an overall GDP growth rate of 2.1 per cent in 2006, we expect a good level of office demand across Europe in 2006, improving rates of net absorption and a reduction of overall levels of vacant space."

Reaching 9.2 per cent at the end of the year, the European average vacancy rate continued its gradual decline, with most cities registering a decline in vacancy rates, notably Dublin, London and Amsterdam.

The lowest vacancy rates are in Moscow (3 per cent), Paris, Barcelona (both 5.7 per cent) and Luxembourg (5.8 per cent).