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Singapore industrial space rents, prices rise in Q4: JTC

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) – Industrial developments continued to see delays in the fourth quarter of last year, with available stock rising by 11,000 sq m, a sharp drop from the 228,000 sq m in the previous three months.

It is also a mere 1.5 per cent of the 736,000 sq m rise in total available stock for the whole of 2021, according to JTC’s quarterly market report released on Thursday (Jan 27).

While last year’s stock increase is more than double the 357,000 sq m in 2020, it is still less than the increase of 865,000 sq m in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic, JTC said.

Comparing quarter on quarter, prices of industrial properties gained 1.4 per cent, while rentals rose 0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021. This marks the fifth consecutive quarter of marginal growth.

Prices and rents were also up 4.4 per cent and 2 per cent respectively, compared with the year-ago period.

Occupancy rate has remained unchanged at 90.1 per cent since the second quarter of 2021, but inched up 0.2 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2020.

By segment, both multiple-user factories and business parks saw quarter-on-quarter growth in occupancy rates, rising 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively. This was offset by single-user factories and warehouses, which slipped 0.1 per cent each.

During the quarter, JTC allocated a total of 88,000 sq m of ready-built facilities (RBF) space to industrialists, which included 66,900 sq m of high-rise space and 11,500 sq m of land-based factory space.

Total RBF returns in the fourth quarter of 2021 was 98,100 sq m, of which 52,800 was land-based factory space and 26,700 was high-rise space. According to JTC, about 82 per cent of the total returns were due to natural expiries or companies consolidating their operations.

Looking ahead, JTC expects further increases in industrial space supply. Based on approved plans at the end of last year, an estimated 2.8 million sq m could be completed by the end of 2022.

“Between 2023 and 2025, an additional 1.9 million sq m of industrial space is expected to be completed. This amounts to an average annual supply of about 1.2 million sq m from now until end-2025. As a comparison, the average annual supply and demand of industrial space were both around 0.7 million sq m over the past three years,” JTC said.

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/singapore-industrial-space-rents-prices-rise-in-q4-jtc