The price of a view in trophy Sydney office towers hits a 50-year high

How much does a view cost when renting an office in the Sydney CBD? If you want space in a trophy tower, the view premium has hit a 50-year high according to new CBRE research, as occupiers target the best quality office space in Australia.

CBRE’s Mind the (Office) Gap report highlights that companies can expect to pay around 60% more to rent high rise floors with views in Sydney’s premium towers than they would to secure lower floor accommodation.

CBRE Associate Director, Office Research, Thomas Biglands noted, “Premiumisation has been the theme of the year across the Australian property sector in 2025. There has been no better example of this trend than in the Sydney CBD office market. Despite sectoral and economic headwinds coming out of COVID, office occupiers have consistently shown a desire, preference, and ability to pay for the highest quality office space in Australia.”

This has driven down office vacancy rates in the CBD’s Core precinct and resulted in some of the strongest rent growth figures of any market globally over the past year.

For occupiers wanting to rent the highest floors in Sydney’s Core Premium properties, that means paying around $800/sqm more than they would to rent low-rise space.

“Occupiers have consistently signaled that they see value in high quality office space as part of their internal operational strategies. This will mean that the best quality assets will continue to see elevated demand going forward. Rents in these assets will continue to rise – and in our opinion – rise rapidly,” Mr Biglands noted.

However, there are some shifts occurring according to Chris Hanley, CBRE’s Head of Office Investor Leasing for the Sydney CBD, who said cost-conscious tenants were now actively pursuing space outside of the CBD core

“Attractive rentals for non-core CBD office rents are influencing tenant lease decisions and value is squarely on the agenda for many corporate occupiers. This has resulted in a growing proportion of deals landing in more cost-effective submarkets,” Mr Hanley said.

“In Q1 2024 roughly half of deals over 1000sqm were for non-core assets whereas in Q1 2025, two-thirds of larger deals were outside of the CBD core. Based on current levels of enquiry and activity we expect that proportion to grow as we move further into 2025.”

CBRE’s Mind the (Office Gap) report highlights significant spreads between rents in the Core precinct and surrounding areas of the CBD such as the Western Corridor and Midtown.

“The combination of a lack of options in the Core and enticing discounts being offered in comparable properties in nearby precincts, should start to lead to overflow demand across the CBD,” Mr Biglands noted.

“Given the more challenging leasing markets in these non-Core precincts, incentives on offer have increased drastically and there has been a significant widening in effective rent spreads across the CBD landscape.”

CBRE’s data highlights that Prime net effective rents in the Core are now $300/sqm more expensive than effective rents in Midtown and more than $400/sqm more expensive than in the Western Corridor.