Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, which once had one of the highest occupancy rates for office buildings in the city, now finds more than half of them empty.

Office rents fell by as much as 45% in the first three months of the year compared with the previous quarter as more office buildings were delivered to the already over-supplied market, says a report from Cluttons, the international property broker.

Only the Dubai International Financial Centre and the free zone TECOM had occupancy levels above 90%, while office buildings on Sheikh Zayed Road were dealing with an average 60 per cent vacancy rate, Cluttons said.

The National