The economic recession and the financial crisis leave their marks on the occupational and investment market. Office take-up reached a historically low level of 40,700 m² during Q1 2009. This combined with high speculative completions pushed vacancy back above the 10% threshold. High speculative future supply for the rest of 2009 and 2010 could drive vacancy rates even higher. The Brussels prime rent in the Leopold District, decreased by 3.6% to €265/m²/year over the quarter and remained stable in other districts. Direct investment volumes in Europe and Belgium decreased further in Q1 2009 and reached in Belgium 206M EUR, down by 39% on the previous quarter (Q4 2008) and 78% lower than the same period last year. The trading will be thin as long as debt markets remain tight, economies weak and price evidence patchy.