Commercial rent, price slide worsens in 2016

Singapore

RENTS and prices of commercial space in Singapore fell at a faster clip last year compared to 2015, with office vacancies rising to a near five-year high since Q1 2012 after some large projects were completed.

Latest data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released on Thursday showed that rents of office and retail space have fallen more than 8 per cent in 2016, steeper than the 6.5 per cent drop for office rents and 4.1 per cent fall in retail rents in 2015.

The downward pressures are unlikely to go away just yet, given the impending supply and soft demand …