Office rents in Singapore seen to rise 10%-15% this year

Can the office leasing market support this?

According to Colliers International, with most economic and market indicators pointing upwards, the near-term outlook of the office leasing market is bright and could possibly support rental growth of another 10% to 15% in 2014.

Here's more:

Supply-wise, new office space supply is expected to stay at a high of about 2.2 million sq ft in 2014. Of these. 1.2 million sq ft will be available in the CBD, such as CapitaGreen and South Beach, which are scheduled to complete in 4Q 2014.

The balance will be largely from projects that are either strata-titled (Paya Lebar Square and PS100) or located outside the CBD (Westgate), which have minimal impact on rents in the CBD.
The stock of sublease space in the market has jumped to about 230,000 sq ft as of December 2013 from 140,000 sq ft three months ago.

The spike in sublease space is unlikely to be a major concern for the office leasing market as it arose largely as the result of the rationalisation of space from a mired of industries rather than the scaling down or cessation of businesses characteristic of a bear market.

Moreover, the improvement in business sentiments should ensure a steady absorption rate.