SINGAPORE (BUSINESS TIMES) – Rents and prices for Singapore’s industrial properties continued to rise in the first quarter of 2022, although overall occupancy rates declined, according to JTC’s quarterly market report released Thursday (April 28).
Prices for industrial space rose 2.1% quarter-on-quarter and 5.6% year-on-year in the first quarter, while rents rose 1% quarter-on-quarter and 2.4% year-on-year.
The overall industrial real estate market occupancy rate fell to 89.8% in the first quarter, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous quarter and 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter. same period of the previous year. This is mainly due to a significant increase in new completions and an increase in supply exceeding new demand.
Total stock on hand increased by 333,000 m² compared to the previous quarter – the largest quarterly increase since 2019. In contrast, total stock occupied increased by 71,000 m² in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter.
As of the end of March, JTC expects 2.4 million sqm of new industrial space to hit the market in the next three quarters of 2022. It expects single-user factory space to account for 46% of the upcoming supply, multi-user factory space for 28% and the remaining 25% will come from warehouses and business parks.
During the quarter, JTC allocated a total of 91,800 m² of ready-to-use (RBF) facility space to industrialists, including 64,400 m² of high-rise space and 20,300 m² of office space. earth factory.
RBF’s total returns in the fourth quarter of 2021 were 120,600 m², of which 50,800 m² was high-rise space and 64,500 m² was land-based factory space. About 88% of total returns were due to natural expiries or companies consolidating trades, JTC noted.
Looking ahead, JTC expects demand for industrial space to remain robust barring a sharp downturn in the global economy.