Office vacancy hits 10.4% in Q3

Over 796,000 sqm office space was left empty.

The office market has been seeing more empty rooms especially in the past quarter, when vacancy rate hit 10.4%. This is in contrast to the 9.1% vacancy rate recorded in the preceding quarter.

According to the latest figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, 796,000 sqm of office spaces are left vacant as of the third quarter of this year. This is compared to 690,000 sqm vacant space recorded in 2Q16.

"The amount of occupied office space decreased by 5,000 sq m (nett) in 3rd quarter 2016, compared to the increase of 30,000 sq m (nett) in the previous quarter. The stock of office space increased by 101,000 sq m (nett) in 3rd quarter 2016, compared to the increase of 27,000 sq m (nett) in the previous quarter," URA explained.

Meanwhile, prices of office space decreased by 0.4% in 3rd quarter 2016, compared to the 1.5% decline in the previous quarter. Rentals of office space fell by 1.1% in 3rd quarter 2016, compared to the decline of 3.5% in the previous quarter.

As at the end of 3rd quarter 2016, there was a total supply of about 879,000 sq m GFA of office space in the pipeline.