The collapse of Lehman Brothers is set to hit Asian office rental rates. Banks are traditionally the largest users of Grade A office space in the region, and they are likely to cut back on expansion plans and even consolidate current operations in the year ahead. In the region's major office markets, Tokyo's prime rentals are leading the decline. Others are expected to follow suit over the next 12 to 18...
Rental
Singapore has recorded robust demand in the office sector for the first six months of this year. According to a mid-year review by Colliers International, the Singapore office sector has seen high rents and low vacancy rates, with office occupancy costs the third highest in the Asia-Pacific region. On average, annual Grade A office rents in Singapore fetched US$125.06 per square foot - behind Hong Kong...
With no new major buildings yet completed, supply of office space continues to be tight in the Central Business District (CBD). In the wake of unceasing uncertainties in the wider economy and high office rentals, more companies are adopting a cautious business approach, gravitating towards cheaper premises like decentralised office buildings, industrial properties, business parks and disused State...
Real estate company PNL Real Estate was charged on Tuesday with the unauthorised change of a residential apartment into a workers’ dormitory. The premises - at Public Mansion, 432 Balestier Road - was also in breach of Section 30(1) of the Fire Safety Act. The offence came to light in June this year. Using wooden partitions, the 120.77 square metre apartment had been separated into 32 narrow cubicles....
Analysts decipher clues from recent rental data EARLY investors in Sentosa Cove homes must have possessed a large appetite for risk. Although the idea of developing the 117-hectare Sentosa Cove into an idyllic waterfront enclave was mooted as early as the ’80s, the first land parcel was sold to the private sector for development only in 2003. As such, the rental market in Sentosa Cove was non-existent...
Rising inflation, shrinking exports and flagging economic growth have dampened business confidence across Asia and slowed prime office rent growth. CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) said on Tuesday, in its second quarter office market report for the Asia-Pacific region, that top financial and professional services firms have begun to slow their expansion in the region. Potential corporate occupiers have become...
It was caused not by a jump in demand, but by a contraction in supply LAST week, I suggested that the private housing oversupply may have been understated. This is because units that have been bought by investors can still be considered as part of the housing supply until they are resold or are tenanted. If the rental income cannot cover the mortgage payments and if the owners are highly geared, then...
Positive consumer sentiment and the Great Singapore Sale have provided some support for the retail property market in Singapore, according to property consultants DTZ. It said given the general uncertain global outlook, tenants have resisted committing to higher rents, and this has kept the retail sector stable during the second quarter. Going forward, analysts said they see at most a marginal increase...
Construction not putting tenants off Sentosa Cove is slowly, but surely, attracting high-end tenants with the completion of an estimated 300 homes, including the 200-unit The Berth by the Cove condominium. Despite ugly construction sites dotting many parts of Sentosa, the first luxury condo units and landed properties have drawn rents comparable to, if not higher than those in prime districts on the...
The leasing market in Sentosa Cove is starting to pick up, as more units are ready for occupation, according to property consultants Colliers International. With some 300 units at Sentosa Cove having temporary occupation permits, Colliers said the leasing market could be starting to take shape. Numbers from the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed that some 51 leasing contracts were recorded for homes...