Singapore Business Park Rents Up 2.6% In Q1

SINGAPORE – Rents of business park space in the city-state edged up by 2.6 percent during the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2022. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, business park rents inched up by 0.6 percent, according to JTC’s latest quarterly market report that was published on Thursday afternoon (27 April, SGT).

However, the occupancy rate of business parks in Singapore declined to 81.3 percent in Q1 2023. This is down from the 82.5 percent recorded during the last quarter of 2022 and 85.6 percent during the corresponding period last year.

As such, business park occupancy levels have fallen by 1.2 percentage points and 4.3 percentage points respectively, with the vacancy level hitting 18.6 percent – the highest since the 3rd quarter of 2016, according to Edmund Tie’s Research Head Lam Chern Woon, who added that business park rents rose at its slowest pace during the period under review.

He explained that the business park segment’s relative sluggishness reflects the wide consolidation of workspace among companies, amidst increasing labour costs and business uncertainties.

As of the end of Q1 2023, Singapore had 52.3 million sq m of industrial property supply. 26.1 million consisted of single-user factories, 12.3 million sq m in multiple-user factories, 11.6 million comprised warehouses, while the remaining 2.4 million sq m were made up of business park space.

For Q2 2023, JTC expects about 1 million sq m of new industrial space to be completed. Of this 62 percent will comprise single-user factory space, 21 percent in the form of warehouses, while the remaining 17 percent will consist of business park spaces and multiple-user factories.