Singapore ranked 9th most expensive office location

Hong Kong remains the most expensive office location in the second half of 2010.

According to Colliers International, Singapore's rank increased from 15th place in 1H 2010.

Grade A office rents in Singapore CBD continued to trend up, with rental growth momentum picking up pace from 8.1 per cent ( or 6.6 per cent in local currency terms ) in 1H 2010 to 26.6 per cent (16.8 per cent in local currency terms) in 2H 2010.

With an occupancy cost of US$73.51 per sq ft per year as of end-2010 (S$7.91 per sq ft per month) for Grade A CBD office space, Singapore climbed up the ranks to the 9th place as the most expensive office locations globally, up from 15th place in June 2010 and 24th place a year ago. With this move, Singapore returned to the Top 10 most expensive office locations globally, after being placed out of the Top 20 rankings in 2009, when rents were depressed and more competitive under the weight of the global financial crisis.

Hong Kong, London-West End, Tokyo, Paris, London-City, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, London–Southbank and Geneva complete the ranking of the 10 most expensive office locations in the world as of 4Q 2010. The top three rankings of cities – Hong Kong, London-West End and Tokyo – remained unchanged since December 2009.

While rents in London-West End remained stable from June 2010’s level and those in Tokyo slipped by 4.1 per cent in 2H 2010, the strengthening of the British sterling pound and Japanese yen against the greenback had resulted in rental growth in US Dollar terms.