LOWER occupancy rates and cheaper rents in office buildings around the central business district (CBD) may prompt some firms to move back into the city, property experts said. In the second quarter, office rentals declined to less than $10 per square foot (psf) per month compared with a whopping $19 psf a month a year ago. "Companies are beginning to re-look opportunities to go back to the CBD as rents...
Office Space
Property consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has said the fall in office rents is showing signs of easing, thanks to improved sentiment and stabilisation of Singapore's economy. According to CBRE, monthly prime office rents averaged S$8.60 per square foot in the second quarter, representing an 18.2 per cent fall quarter-on-quarter. This was slightly lower than the 18.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter...
Property consultancy DTZ said office and industrial rents here continued their downward trend in the second quarter this year. For the office market, average monthly gross rents of prime offices in Raffles Place fell by 19 per cent to S$9.70 per square foot, compared to a 25 per cent fall in the previous quarter. Office rents in the Central Business District (CBD) fringe and de-centralised areas suffered...
Singapore's Prime Grade A office market has seen three straight quarters of rental contractions but Jones Lang LaSalle says that pullback is easing. The property consultancy said rentals fell 11 per cent in the second quarter, compared to 28 per cent in the first quarter. Jones Lang said landlords have been taking a defensive strategy of securing occupants for their office space at the expense of...
Property consultancy Colliers said the amount of shadow space in Singapore has increased by almost half in a short span of two months. In a research report, the firm said the shadow space increased by 48 per cent from an estimated 250,000 square feet in March this year to 370,000 square feet in May. The amount of shadow space or excess office space that companies have leased but are looking to sublet is...
Office occupancy costs fell most sharply in Singapore in the first quarter, followed by midtown New York and Hong Kong's central business district, according to a survey by CBRE Research and Consulting. The firm's semiannual global survey released on Wednesday showed that the average occupancy cost in Singapore dropped 34.4 per cent in the January-March quarter from a year ago. Midtown New York saw its...
Singapore saw the sharpest declines in office rentals in the first quarter amid the global downturn, compared to other Asian markets. A report from real estate consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) said leasing activity remained slow as firms continued to downsize and reduce costs. Singapore saw an 18.6 per cent drop in rents for the first three months of 2009, compared to the previous quarter. This...
Hong How Investments tests the market with a new SoHo development LOCAL developer Hong How Investments is testing the market with the soft launch of 14 units in a SoHo development on Armenian street. It has cut its asking price by 12.5 per cent to $2,100 to $2,200 per square foot (psf) from the $2,400 to $2,500 psf range when the developer was first ready for launch last August. While enquiries have...
Singapore will see a glut of hotel and office spaces when projects at the Marina Bay Downtown come on stream in the months ahead, but developers say they are not worried. Not only is the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort on track for completion, the Double Helix Bridge - which links visitors from the Bayfront to Marina Centre - will also be ready by year-end. Across the waters at the Fullerton heritage...
The cost of prime office space in Singapore is expected to halve by the end of the year, to hit almost five-year lows. It fell sharply by 25 per cent to about S$9.20 per square foot per month in the first quarter this year, compared to the previous quarter. Analysts expect a similar fall in the second quarter, before a moderation in the second half of the year. 2.4 million square feet of office space...