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Singapore Q3 retail vacancies rise to 5-year high of 8.4%

URA data shows decline in rents and prices moderating, but analysts see no light at the end of the tunnel for retailers

Kalpana Rashiwala

Published Fri, Oct 28, 2016 · 09:50 PM

Singapore property

Singapore

THE decline in both retail property rents and prices was slower in the third quarter than in the second, but vacancies shot to fresh highs.

The latest data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) indicates that the vacancy rate island-wide rose to 8.4 per cent at the end of Q3 - the highest level since Q1 2011, when the URA started collating retail property market stats in its current form.

The vacancy rate at the close of Q2 was 7.8 per cent.

The amount of occupied retail space in Singapore shrank 26,000 sq m in the third quarter. In the preceding quarter, …