Industrial property occupancy rates fell 0.3 percentage points on a quarter-on-quarter basis to 91.6 per cent, based on latest data from Singapore’s lead industrial infrastructure developer JTC Corporation.
JTC said the decline follows an increase in industrial land and space supply by the government in recent years.
Prices of industrial space continued to moderate compared to previous years.
In the first quarter of 2014, prices rose 2.5 per cent year-on-year, in contrast to the average increase of 20.2 per cent yearly, over the past four years.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, prices rose 3.8 per cent, following a 3.3 per cent decrease in the previous quarter.
JTC has for the first time also released price data by geographical region, which will be a usual practice from now on.
For instance, average prices of multiple-user factory space of B1 classification — meant for light and clean industry, dipped 8.4 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis in the Northeast region.
Average prices for B1 multiple-user factory space in the West region, on the other hand, rose six per cent quarter-on-quarter.
JTC said the government will continue to monitor the industrial property market closely.
It will continue to release an adequate amount of land, including smaller Industrial
Government Land Sales parcels for industrialists to build their own customised land-based facilities.
Over the next three years, a yearly average of around 2.1 million square metres of industrial space is expected to come on-stream.
This is about four to five per cent of current available stock — significantly higher than the average annual supply of around 1.2 million square metres, and demand of 900,000 square metres seen in the past three years.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 24 Apr 2014