Prime office rents up 1.2% QoQ in Q1: Knight Frank

Occupancy levels in Raffles Place and Marina Bay rose by 2.3%.

Prime office rents rose 1.2% on a quarterly basis to $10.25 per square foot in the first quarter of 2022 whilst occupancy levels in Raffles Place/Marina Bay precinct have recovered, real estate consultancy firm, Knight Frank, said.

Citing the firm’s 2022 Back to the Office report, Calvin Yeo, head of corporate real estate in Knight Frank Singapore, said occupancy levels in Raffles Place/Marina Bay precinct grew by 2.3 percentage points to 94.1% after the fully leased CapitaSpring building was filled up with tenants.

After the government pushed for single ownership in key central areas, Yeo said office buildings will be better managed whilst tenants will also achieve scalability.

There is also a limited upcoming supply of Central Business District Grade A offices and the government not expected to release land sites for office use in the short-term, office leasing activity is expected to remain firm especially as up to 75% of employees are now allowed to return to the workplace. 

In relation to this, Knight Frank maintained that there will be a 3% to 5% growth in rents for 2022.