Office and retail space rents in Singapore fell in the second quarter, according to property statistics released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) today.
Prices of office space rose by 0.3 percent in Q2 2015, reversing a decline of 0.1 percent in the preceding quarter. However, office rents dipped by 2.6 percent, compared to the 0.6 percent growth in Q1.
Nevertheless, the island-wide vacancy rate in the office segment slid from 10.2 percent in Q1 to 9.8 percent in the period under review. In particular, the net amount of occupied office space climbed by 38,000 sq m, up from 19,000 sq m previously, while net supply grew by only 8,000 sq m, down from the 22,000 sq m gain in the first quarter. By the end of Q2 2015, the total supply of office space in the pipeline reached approximately 962,000 sq m (GFA).
Meanwhile, prices of retail space fell by 0.5 percent Q2 after holding steady in Q1. Similarly, rents of such premises decreased by the same percentage, from the 0.3 percent drop in the previous quarter. Overall vacancy level increased to 7.2 percent in Q2 from 6.8 percent in Q1. Although the net amount of occupied retail space during the period remained unchanged, it was an improvement from the decline of 25,000 sq m seen in Q1.
However, the growth of available supply softened to 25,000 sq m from 34,000 sq m previously. By the end of June, upcoming supply of retail space was recorded at 962,000 sq m (GFA).
Source: CommercialGuru, Jul 24, 2015
