Prices of office, retail space flat in Q2: URA

SINGAPORE — Prices of office space were flat in the second quarter after a 0.5 per cent increase in the first quarter, while prices of retail space fell 0.3 per cent after remaining unchanged in the previous quarter, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said today (July 25).

Rental prices of office space in the second quarter rose 2.8 per cent from the previous three months, following the 2.4 per cent increase in the first quarter. Rental prices of retail space in the second quarter also increased, rising by 0.6 per cent in the second quarter, compared with the decline of 0.3 per cent in the January to March period.

As of end-June, there was a total supply of about 1.055 million square metre (sqm) gross floor area of office space in the pipeline, and a supply of 879,000 sqm gross floor area of retail space from projects in the works.

The amount of occupied office space increased by 22,000 sqm in the second quarter, compared with the 6,000 sqm increase in the previous quarter. During the quarter, the stock of office space decreased by 1,000 sqm, compared with the increase of 15,000 sqm in the previous quarter. As a result, the islandwide vacancy rate of office space at the end of June fell to 9.6 per cent, from 10 per cent at the end of March.

According to URA, the amount of occupied retail space increased by 38,000 sqm in the second quarter, while the stock of retail space increased by 49,000 sqm. As a result, the islandwide vacancy rate of retail space rose to 5.9 per cent at the end of June, up from 5.8 per cent at the end of March. CHANNEL NEWSASIA