Here’s how costly office rentals are in Singapore compared with Asian peers

Rental values are almost equal to ShangHai’s.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle, Average net effective rents in Raffles Place fell marginally by 1.2% q-o-q to US$700 or SGD 930 per sqm per annum in 3Q12, similar to the rate in the previous quarter. Again, there was more downward pressure on rents in buildings with higher vacancies.

“While strata-title office sales remained healthy, en bloc activity was rather quiet in 3Q12. The only known major transaction was 78 Shenton Way, located in Tanjong Pagar district, which involved the sale of a 50% stake for SGD 608 million or SGD 18,148 per sqm on an NLA basis. Strata-title capital values continued to provide some support for en-bloc capital values even as a gap remains between the expectations of buyers and sellers. En-bloc capital values thus remained stable for another quarter in 3Q12 and, as a result, yields continued to compress. In Raffles Place, market yields compressed marginally by four bps to 3.6%, on the back of softening rents,” it said.