The European colocation data centre vacancy rate could fall below 10% by the end of the year for the first time ever, according to new research from CBRE.
At the end of Q3, the vacancy rate for the region stood at 11.9%, with the vacancy rate across the top five markets of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin (FLAPD) sitting at 9.4%.
CBRE expects a surge in demand in the final quarter of 2024 to cause the vacancy rate in Europe to fall to 9.7% by year end.
Hyperscalers’ strong appetite for data centre capacity, coupled with the difficulties providers are having securing the necessary resource to build facilities, have caused the sharp decline in the vacancy rate across Europe.
CBRE believes annual take-up will reach 705MW, which exceeds the the expected level of new supply (644MW) in 2024.
Kevin Restivo, head of European data centre research at CBRE, said: “With vacancy rates across Europe expected to drop to record lows, organisations are struggling to source the capacity required to support their growth plans. Given the lack of availability in primary markets, we are seeing some organisations turning to smaller markets as a solution. Buyers need to take a long-term view of the market if data centres are to be an integral part of their business and IT strategies.”
