Office space leasing activity buoyed by Marina One and UIC Building

Net absorption sits at 923,810 sqft for Q2.

Singapore's office market reported a steady net absorption for the past quarter with the completion of the East Tower of Marina One and UIC Building.

According to CBRE Research, net absorption for the quarter was at 923,810 sqft.

"This figure was boosted by the positive impact of the pre-commitments in these two developments," the research firm said.

However, excluding the two new developments, leasing activity remained relatively subdued this quarter and for the most part comprised small and medium sized transactions. Meanwhile, CBRE noted that there are a couple of bright spots to be taken into consideration when looking at the past quarter's performance. 

First, there was an increase in leasing enquiries driven by the banking and finance sector as well as ongoing expansion in the technology sector.

"Asian finance-related companies have been quite active in adding headcount albeit the scale of expansion remains modest," it said.

More so, there has been a strong push by coworking operators who are still seeing potential in Singapore and are competing to gain market share.

"Most of the leasing activity and interest was concentrated on developments in the Core CBD region and this should lead to more take-up over the coming months," CBRE stated.