Industrial property prices, rents dip in Q3

THE ramp-up in supply of industrial land and space by the government is showing a more decided impact on industrial property prices, which turned south in the third quarter.

Industrial rents fell for the second straight quarter, data from the JTC showed on Thursday.

JTC's industrial property price index slipped 0.9 per cent in the third quarter from the second quarter, dragged by a 1.8 per cent drop in prices of multiple-user factory space.

This followed a 0.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise in industrial property prices in the second quarter.

Industrial rents slid 1.8 per cent, due mainly to weakness in multiple- user factory space.

Overall occupancies of industrial space inched up 0.2 percentage points to 90.9 per cent in the third quarter, but this was 1.8 percentage points lower than the year-ago period.

JTC noted that tender prices for industrial Government Land Sales (iGLS) sites targeting multiple-user developments have also declined.

Meanwhile, multiple-user warehouses recorded a 3.2 per cent rise in prices; rents held unchanged from the second quarter, based on JTC data.

JTC said about 1.2 million sq m of industrial space, including 167,000 sq m of multiple-user factory space, will come on-stream in the fourth quarter.

This will bring the full-year supply of industrial space to 3.1 million sq m. Another 2.6 million sq m of industrial space is estimated to come on-stream in 2015, and 1.9 million sq m in 2016.