Factory rents fell in Q4, will likely weaken further: DTZ

A WEAKER manufacturing sector and excess supply put a dent in average monthly gross rents for factory space in the fourth quarter of 2015, property consultancy DTZ said in a press release on Tuesday.

It added that with 4.6 million sq ft of multiple-user factory space coming into the market in 2016 amid a softer economic environment, it expects industrial rents to "trend downwards" this year.

Average monthly gross rents for first-storey factory space fell 2.3 per cent to S$2.10 per sq ft (psf) while rents for upper-storey factory space dropped 2.9 per cent to S$1.65 per sq ft in Q4 2015 from the previous quarter, DTZ said.

It noted that this was the second consecutive decline in factory rents in 2015, and was due partly to a contraction in net demand for multiple-user factory space and partly to excess supply.

The decline in Q4 meant that monthly rents for first-storey factory space were down 4.5 per cent in 2015 from the year before and upper-storey space monthly rentals were 5.7 per cent lower year-on-year, it added.