^{Source: Savills Research}

■ July's activity has brought the 12-month rolling take-up figure to 6.2m sq ft, which is still 25% up on the long-term average.

■ The largest deal of the month was the acquisition of 33 Central, EC4 (227,689 sq ft) by Wells Fargo. The American bank bought the building for their own occupation.

■ Another notable deal for July was the acquisition of the 7th floor at Lacon House (22,474 sq ft) by Exterion Media. The media company took the space at the new refurbishment on a straight 10-year lease at £65.00/sq ft.

■ So far this year, Insurance & Financial services have accounted for the greatest amount of take-up at 24%. They are followed by Tech & Media (12%), Banking (11%), and Retail & Leisure (11%). Professional services have accounted for just 10% of take-up so far this year, compared with their 26% share at this point last year (Graph 1).

^{Source: Savills Research}

■ Total City supply stood at 6.4m sq ft, equating to a vacancy rate of 5.2%, up on this point last year by 0.2%. The vacancy rate is still considerably low in historic context, with the 10-year average at 6.7%.

■ There is currently 0.98m sq ft of space under-offer in the City, which is 25% down on the long-term average. Of this, 130,955 sq ft went under-offer in June, which is 55% down on the average monthly amount for the last year.

■ We saw the record top rent in the City surpassed this month when Kames Capital took more space within The Leadenhall Building, which is where they currently are. They took level 43 (6,967 sq ft) on an 11-year lease at £107.00/sq ft.

■ Graph 2 clearly displays how rents have risen since 2009 in the City. So far this year, 49% of deals have been £60/sq ft or above, compared with just 6% in 2007. Furthermore, historically the £40 - £49.99/sq ft bracket has accounted for the most deals with a long term average of 29%, compared with just 14% this year.

^{Source: Savills Research}

■ With the amount of space going under-offer in the City easing, it is easy to assume take-up will begin to suffer. While this may be true to a certain extent, it is possible the slow-down could be a function of the time of the year, with the summer months being traditionally the quietest. Moreover, it is encouraging to see the number of requirements for the City rose by 1m sq ft (13% up) over the last month, and is now 21% up on the 12-month average.

Analysis close up

^{Completions due in the next six months are included in the supply figures}

^{*Average prime rents for preceding three months}

^{** Average rent free on leases of 10 years with no breaks for preceding three months}

^{N.B We have amended our historic stock figure, resulting in a slight change of our historic vacancy rates (Aug 2015)}

^{Source: Savills Research}