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Singapore retail rents rise 1.2% in Q4; vacancy rate rises to 8.5%: URA

RENTS for retail space in the central region of Singapore rose by 1.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018 over the previous three months – contrasting with the drop of 1.2 per cent in the third quarter, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday. 

For the whole of 2018, retail rents weakened by 1.0 per cent, after sliding 4.7 per cent in 2017.

URA’s price index of retail space in the central region rose 1.5 per cent in the fourth quarter over the previous quarter, a bigger increase than the 0.3 per cent gain in the third quarter.

For the whole of 2018, the price index expanded 0.6 per cent –  after contracting 8.8 per cent in 2017.

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2018, there was a total supply of 387,000 square metres in gross floor area (GFA) of retail space from projects in the pipeline, compared with 501,000 sq m at the end of the third quarter.

The amount of occupied retail space increased by 24,000 sq m net lettable area (NLA) in Q4 2018, contrasting with a decrease of 26,000 sq m in the previous quarter. However, the stock of retail space increased by 84,000 sq m NLA in Q4 2018, compared with the decrease of 11,000 sq m in the previous quarter.

As a result, the islandwide vacancy rate of retail space rose to 8.5 per cent at the end of Q4 2018, from 7.6 per cent at the end of the previous quarter.

Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-retail-rents-rise-12-in-q4-vacancy-rate-rises-to-85-ura