Chart of the Day: Here's how much vacancy rate for shop spaces have dipped

Is this big drop good news?

According to CIMB, retail rents remain supported by full employment and good pre-commitments (80-100%) ahead of physical completions. 

However, given the continual tightening of foreign labour supply, retailers are finding it difficult to hire help, which could limit future expansion possibilities within the retail space.

Here's more from CIMB:

Industrial REITs, on the other hand, could face short-term oversupply, particularly in the business park space as a large portion of the business park space (c.1.2m sf in 2014) is expected to come onstream.

Of the estimated 19.1m sq ft of industrial space coming online this year, according to DTZ, an estimated 60% is either owner-ccupied or pre-committed.

Due to this reason, coupled with the recovery in the global economy, we expect industrial rentals to remain resilient this year.

In addition, with JTC recently toughening its stance on the buying and selling of industrial properties by third-party lessees, we expect fewer sale-and-leaseback deals in 2014.