Leasing activity in the private residential market is expected to slow this year as the uncertain economic outlook causes companies to be more cautious in hiring expatriates. But there may be some leasing opportunities arising from recent property market cooling measures, particularly December's announcement of the 10 per cent additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) on foreigners who purchase private...
Rental
Members of Parliament (MPs) this week sought to highlight the woes long faced by employers - particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) - posed by the policies in this year's Budget aimed at re-structuring the economy. This year's Budget cuts dependency ratio ceilings (DRC) in the manufacturing and services sectors to slow down the growth of the foreign workforce. At the same time, it offered...
Singapore remains the ninth most expensive city to rent property in the world, and the third most costly in Asia, according to a survey by ECA International. This is despite the average rent for an unfurnished three bedroom apartment rising only three percent last year, one of the lowest in the region. This is a much lower rate of increase than the previous years when rents rose over 10 percent. However...
Over the next five years, the cost of occupying a workstation in Singapore's business district will be among the slowest to grow globally, according to property services firm, DTZ. Driven by downward pressure from negative rental growth in 2012 and 2013, Singapore joins Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur as locations that will see the lowest growth in office occupancy costs. Factors that contribute to this...
Vacancy rates of Grade A offices in the central business district (CBD) rose to 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter last year, according to property consultancy Savills Research in its latest report on the office sector on Wednesday. It said vacancy rates for such premium office space have remained below 5 percent over the last five quarters. The report also pointed out that the Shenton Way area recorded...
Office rents have started to show signs of falling and analysts say the pipeline of new office space is not going to help. According to Colliers International, rents in the Central Business District fell by 1.6 per cent on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2011. The decline was worse in the Grade A micro market of Raffles Place and New Downtown, where rents fell by 4.3 per cent. This is the first drop...
Rents for business park space and offices have stagnated over the last six months. This is according to research by DTZ which is part of commercial property giant UGL Limited. Rent for business park space has remained unchanged at S$4.38 per square foot per month in the second half of 2011. This is a contrast to the robust 6.6 per cent growth registered in the first half. Likewise, average rent for...
The rental market may improve this year, as home buyers are likely to put off purchasing amid the recent cooling measures, said analysts. Over the next year, a larger pool of tenants might stabilise the rental market or cause a five percent increase in rents. This counters earlier expectations of a downtrend in rents due to a large supply of completed units entering the market this year. Rents were...
Office rents in the Raffles Place business district have stalled, according to figures from property services firm, DTZ. Prime office rents were unchanged in the second half of the year, after rising by 5.4 per cent and 3.3 per cent in the second and first quarters respectively, DTZ said. DTZ attributed the stagnation to occupier concerns over the worsening Eurozone debt crisis. The average office rent...
Real estate consultancy firm CBRE expects prime Orchard Road rents to remain stable in the fourth quarter of 2011. It added that a limited supply of retail premises along the shopping belt should continue to keep rents firm next year. Currently, rents for prime retail space in Orchard Road remained unchanged at S$31.60 psf/mth, up by 4.6 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. Letty Lee,...