Industrial prices, rentals soften amid larger supply in Q2: JTC

INDUSTRIAL prices in Singapore fell 0.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the preceding quarter. Year on year, they were down 0.9 per cent.

Industrial rentals fell 0.7 per cent in the second quarter over the previous quarter, or were down 2.7 per cent from the year-ago period.

"Following the increase in supply of industrial land and space by the government in recent years, prices and rentals of industrial space continued to soften," JTC Corporation said on Thursday.

Occupancy rates rose 0.3 percentage points, both on quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year bases, to 91 per cent. This was driven by higher occupancies at business parks and warehouses. Occupancy rates for multiple-user and single-user factories fell.

In the second half of 2015, about 1.6 million square metres (sq m) of industrial space, which includes 290,000 sq m of multiple-user factory space, is estimated to come onstream. An additional 2.8 million sq m of space is estimated to be ready in 2016.

"This is significantly higher than the average annual supply and demand of around 1.5 million sq m and 1.1 million sq m (respectively) in the past three years, and is likely to exert further downward pressures on occupancy rates," JTC said.