SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) – Rents of retail space in Singapore’s central region dropped 4.5 per cent from the previous three months in the third quarter of 2020, after declining 3.5 per cent in the previous quarter.

However, the latest data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday (Oct 23) also showed that prices of retail space in the central region rose by 2.2 per cent in Q3 2020, after chalking up a 1.5 per cent decrease in the previous quarter.

Islandwide, as at the end of the third quarter, there was a total supply of 428,000 square metres (sq m) gross floor area (GFA) of retail space from projects in the pipeline, up from 364,000 sq m GFA in the previous quarter.

The amount of occupied retail space contracted by 50,000 sq m net lettable area (NLA) in Q3, less than the 93,000 sq m drop in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the stock of retail space fell by 53,000 sq m NLA in Q3, compared with the increase of 4,000 sq m in Q2.

Rents of office space in the central region of Singapore fell 4.5 per cent from the previous three months in the third quarter after remaining flat in the previous quarter, URA figures showed on Friday.

They also showed that prices of office space in the central region went up 0.2 per cent in Q3 after declining 4.3 per cent in the previous quarter.

Islandwide, as at the end of the third quarter of 2020, there was a total supply of about 767,000 square metres (sq m) gross floor area (GFA) of office space in the pipeline, compared with 668,000 sq m GFA at the end of the previous quarter.

The amount of occupied office space decreased by 19,000 sq m of net lettable area (NLA) in Q3, versus a bigger drop of 55,000 sq m in Q2. The stock of office space declined by 33,000 sq m NLA in Q3, compared with an increase of 43,000 sq m in the previous quarter.

As a result, the islandwide vacancy rate of office space edged down to 12 per cent at the end of Q3, from 12.1 per cent at the end of Q2.