Retail rents 'nearing bottom of downcycle'

Singapore

PROPERTY consultants generally continued to be sanguine that rentals for retail space on the island will start stabilising this year.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority's rental index of retail space in the Central Region shed 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year over the preceding quarter.

This follows a 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter decline in the index for Q3 2017, and took the drop for the whole of last year to 4.7 per cent.

"This is a significant moderation from the minus 8.3 per cent registered in 2016 and could be indicative of the retail property market heading towards the bottom of its dow…