Are office spaces doomed to be ghost towns?
Analyst says weak hiring sentiment should keep office space demand low.
Phillip Securities Research said:
The median rent of office space in central area declined 0.8% q-q to $9.41psfpm while median price continued to hold up, grew by marginal 0.1% q-q in 1Q12 to $1,088psf.
Vacancy rate inched up slightly to 12.5%. We see low new supply for the rest of the year, thus providing some time for the market to absorb the vacant spaces.
Nonetheless, we expect the current slow growth of economy will continue to stage weak demand for office space.