While realtors across the country are waiting for the slowdown syndrome to die down, their counterparts in the city have a reason to smile. Growth in sectors like automobile, pharmaceutical and engineering has created demand for commercial properties in and around the city.

A pan-India study suggests that while cumulative office space absorption for the top eight Indian cities fell 32 per cent in the first quarter of 2012 as compared to previous quarter, Ahmedabad bucked the trend. “The first quarter of 2012 noted absorption across top eight cities at 7 million sq ft registering a decline of 32% over last quarter and 6% over the corresponding period last year. However, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad were the only markets showing a rise in absorption at 35%, 33.7% and 5.6% respectively,” says a report by real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield.

According to global real-estate consultant DTZ’s recent report ‘India Office Demand and Trends Survey 2011-2012’, Ahmedabad has emerged as a favourite among the tier II cities for banking, financial services and insurance companies.

“Commercial spaces where realtors are dishing out all modern facilities in a good locality continue to attract investors and corporates. The demand in the housing market is sluggish, but with a high number of companies investing in Gujarat, the market for medium and top-end commercial units in Ahmedabad remains attractive,” said Jaxay Shah, vice-president, Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (Credai).

“It is expected that the space absorption will remain stable in the next quarter with small-scale industries tipped to be the key demand drivers,” said Ravi Ahuja, executive director, Office Transactions, Cushman & Wakefield India.