Singapore saw stabilised rents for Grade A offices in CBD in the first quarter of 2021, falling by only 0.3% q-o-q to $9.54 psf. The downtick was mainly by Orchard and Raffles Place/New Downtown Premium micro-markets which posted a 0.9% and 0.7% drop in rents respectively, revealed Colliers Intl. In Q1 2021, CBD Grade A office net absorption turned positive following two consecutive quarters of contraction. “This is a sign of recovery, and we can expect rents to rebound 5.5% by end-2021, in line with the GDP growth, as supply stays at benign levels,” said Tricia Song, Head of Research for Singapore Colliers. Meanwhile, June Chua, Executive Director, Head of Tenant Representation at Colliers Intl noted that last year’s events brought various changes and disruptions to the workplace, which could lead to higher take-ups from the flexible workspace sector. With this, she expects “key operators to continue their expansion at a moderate pace”. Colliers also revealed that total office of mixed office investment volumes climbed 13.9% y-o-y to $850 million in Q1 2021, as confidence returned with the global vaccine roll-out.... Continue Reading