The office sectors of Moscow and St Petersburg saw impressive rental growth during the first half of 2011, in stark contrast to most other European markets.

Colliers International's EMEA office rental map indicates growth of 11% and 10% in Moscow and St Petersburg in the first six months of the year.

Most office markets in the EMEA region reported flat growth, though the London West End market saw a rise in rents of about 10%, the broker said.

Markets that experienced negative growth include Athens (-7%), Dubai (-8%) and Sofia (-8%). The decline was chiefly a result of falling demand in Athens, and an excess of office space in Dubai and Sofia.

Looking forward, the outlook for Class A rents is broadly flat throughout the region with the majority of centres forecasting zero rental growth for the next 12 months. Some of the weaker markets such as Dubai and Sofia expect further falls in class A rents whilst major centres such as London, Moscow, Munich and Stockholm are expected to see further increases.

The outlook for prime yields is flat across almost all of the cities. However, cities such as Abu Dhabi, Brussels and Prague are expected to see some yield compression as investors seek attractive yields outside of the core office markets which have already seen notable compression.