Retail space prices slipped 8.8% in 2017

As a result, the island-wide vacancy rate of retail space dropped to 7.4%.

For the whole of 2017, prices of retail space fell 8.8% YoY, compared with the 5.4% decline in 2016, whilst rentals fell by 4.7%, compared with the decline of 8.3% last year.

According to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data, for Q4, prices of retail space slipped 1%, whilst rentals edged down 0.5%.

As at the end of Q4, there was a total supply of 509,000 sqm gross floor area (GFA) of retail space from projects in the pipeline, compared with the 556,000 sqm GFA of retail space in the pipeline in Q3.

The amount of occupied retail space increased by 64,000 sqm, significantly higher than the increase of 15,000 sqm in the previous quarter.

The stock of retail space increased by 18,000 sqm in Q4, softer than the 22,000 sqm increase in Q3.

As a result, the island-wide vacancy rate of retail space dropped to 7.4% at the end of Q4, from 8.2% at the end of the previous quarter.