Rents of prime shopping retail space in Orchard Road down 2.8%

Rents in suburban malls dip marginally.

According to Colliers International, for the whole of 2012, rents of prime retail space in the premier shopping belt of Orchard Road fell by 2.8%, keeping to within the 3.0% decline projected at the beginning of the year. While prime retail space in the Regional Centres did not decline as much as in Orchard Road,there was a marginal dip of 0.5% for the entire year, highlighting the resilience of suburban shopping malls, it added.

"In fact, the rental premium that prime retail space in Orchard Road commands over similar space in the Regional Centres has narrowed from 31.0% in 2007 to 14.0% as of the end of 2011, and to 11.5% as of the end of 2012, demonstrating the ever-increasing level of competition between the two micro-market locations for tenants."