Chart of the Day: Prime retail rents remained flat in Q3

Orchard Road rents remained unchanged on the back of limited supply, which offset lower tourist spending.

This chart from Knight Frank shows that prime retail rents stayed flat at $30.5 per sq ft per month (psf pm) in Q3 due to the retail market reaching  a “steady state.”

Prime retail rents in the Orchard Road precinct remained unchanged in Q3 2019 at $34.5 psf pm on the back of limited supply, which offset lower tourism spending. The prime units also attracted demand from new-to-market brands that sought greater visibility to consumers, the report added.

There was also no change in prime rents in the Marina Centre, City Hall, and Bugis precinct in the third quarter of 2019, as “the market reaching an equilibrium.”
Island-wide occupancy rate of retail spaces was at 92.3% in Q2 2019, close to the three-year average occupancy of 92.2% from 2016-2018, noted Knight Frank. Occupancy of shopping malls was also noted to have been stable since 2016.