The monthly lease for coworking spaces in high-end buildings in Ho Chi Minh City’s downtown District 1 has risen 5% year-on-year to $344 per person in the first half of the year, a new study has found.

Across the city, the average lease rate increased by 4.5% to $219 per customer during the same period, according to property consultancy Knight Frank.

Non-central districts are seeing increasing supply as developers target young entrepreneurs and employees who want flexible workspace.

A new 10-floor building in District 12, where Quang Trung Software City is located, is set to have three floors used as coworking space developed by The Sentry, which develops workspaces for around 70 startups in HCMC.

“We see strong growths in software development, especially in gaming and AI,” The Sentry co-founder and CEO Greg Ohan said.

In areas far away from the city center, coworking space is leased on average at $96 per person.

Apart from leasing coworking space, developers are also providing training and teambuilding for startups, said Le Nguyen, director of tenant strategy and solutions at Knight Frank Vietnam.

The trend of renting shared offices is gaining momentum in Vietnam’s economic hubs such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Da Nang.

Many foreign companies entering Vietnam are opting for co-working spaces due to their more affordable initial costs and operational flexibility.

Major demand is seen among tenants in the technology sector, followed by retail and pharmaceuticals.

In the first half, the supply of shared offices in HCMC rose by about 20%. It now has 120 flexible work centers managed by 28 service providers, Knight Frank said.

Five more locations are expected to open by the end of the year, it added.

A report by property services firm Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam indicated that the city center now has over 1.6 million square meters of Grade A and B office space available for lease.

Trang Bui, general director of Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, said that within the next five years, about 20% of the global workforce will use shared workspaces, up 4% percentage points from the current level.

Luong Thi My Thanh, general director of The Executive Center Vietnam, believes that the utilization of shared workspaces in HCMC will continue to increase over the next three years.

Cost efficiency remains the top priority when businesses choose office space. Other key factors include the building’s classification, design, technical specifications, and management services.