S’pore ranks top 10 most expensive office locations globally

Singapore has ranked 9th in the list of most expensive office locations globally, up from 15th place six months ago, said property consultants Colliers International in a report issued Wednesday.

The Global Office Real Estate Review 2H2010 said that Grade A office rents in the Singapore’s central business district (CBD) continued to trend up, with rental growth momentum picking up pace from 6.6 per cent in local currency terms in the first half of last year, to 16.8 per cent in the second half.

Singapore registered an occupancy cost of S$7.91 per square foot per month as at the end of last year for Grade A CBD office space.

As such, Singapore returned to the top 10 most expensive office locations globally, after being placed out of the top 20 rankings in 2009, when rents were depressed and more competitive under the weight of the global financial crisis.

Hong Kong, London’s West End, Tokyo, Paris, London’s City Centre, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, London’s Southbank and Geneva complete the ranking of the 10 most expensive office locations in the world.

The report also found that Singapore maintained its competitiveness against its key rival Hong Kong.

Colliers said that continued space tightening in Hong Kong saw their office vacancy rates falling to just 3.1 per cent as at the end of December last year, the lowest in the Asia Pacific region.

It added that Singapore’s office occupancy cost remained about 62 per cent more affordable than that of Hong Kong’s as of December 2010.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 13 Apr 2011

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