SINGAPORE: Prices and rentals of retail and office space in Singapore fell in the first quarter, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday (Apr 28).
Prices of retail space decreased by 4 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year, after rising 0.2 per cent in the previous quarter. Rentals declined by 2.9 per cent, after falling 1.2 per cent in the previous quarter.
As of the end of March, there was 606,000 sqm gross floor area of retail space from projects in the pipeline, up from the 595,000 sqm in the previous quarter.
Occupied retail space decreased by 41,000 sqm, after increasing 66,000 sqm in the fourth quarter of last year. The islandwide vacancy rate of retail space rose to 7.7 per cent at the end of March, up from 7.5 per cent at the end of December 2016, URA said.
Prices of office space similarly declined by 4 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the January to March period, after falling 0.6 per cent in the previous quarter. Rentals declined by 3.4 per cent, after declining 1.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016.
As of end-March, there was 826,000 sqm gross floor area of office space in the pipeline, up from 786,000 sqm in the previous quarter.
Occupied office space decreased by 6,000 sqm, after increasing 1,000 sqm in the previous quarter. The islandwide vacancy rate rose to 11.6 per cent as of end-March, compared with 11.1 per cent as of the end of December 2016, URA said.
