Singapore Office Market Q1 2020

PRIME RENTS FALL BY 1.1% Q-O-Q, THE FIRST TIME SINCE Q1 2017

Rents and Occupancy.

Prime Grade rents dropped by 1.1% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) in Q1 2020, as occupancy
rates for prime grade offices in Raffles Place/Marina Bay declined by 0.6 percentage points q-o-q to about 96.0%. Demand and rents are starting to come under pressure as delay expansion and relocation plans amid the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. While net absorption of private sector office space in the Central Business District (CBD) increased to some 840,000 square feet (sqft) in Q1 2020, the rise was due to major leasing deals that were committed pre-COVID 19.

The decline in prime grade office rents in Q1 2020 was moderated by high occupancy rates of above 90%. Nevertheless, there will be increasing pressure on occupancy and rents for the rest of the year resulting from the crisis.