Chart of the Day: Mall carpark vacancies subside weeks after DORSCON row

The worst may be over for retailers and retail REITs.

This chart from DBS Group Research shows that car traffic has returned to various malls three weekends after vacancy rates spiked on the week 7 February 2020 when Singapore raised its DORSCON status to orange.

Whilst visitorship had declined in the first two weeks of February 2020 (carpark vacancy rates spiked to 50-70%), crowds could have returned somewhat over the past weekend (29 February). “If this continues to improve, it may indicate that the worst is over for retailers and retail REITs,” said DBS Group Research analyst Rachel Tan.

“Landlords have been proactively working with retailers in providing assistance through various marketing campaigns (including offering free parking at selected times in the weekdays) to boost traffic and sales at the malls and providing rebates in rentals on a selective basis to retailers,” Tan added.

DBS Group Research tracked the weekend average car park vacancy rates across selected malls in Harbourfront, Marina, Orchard and a selected list of suburban malls over 6.30pm – 7.00pm.

“We chose this time period on the assumption that it is the peak dinner time when most mall car parks will charge on a ‘per-entry’ basis,” Tan explained.