'Lower rents' for prime office space in Singapore

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_759514.html

Vacancy rates up as global slowdown hits financial services sector: Report

By Cheryl Lim

The weakening economy is starting to take a toll on prime office space in Singapore, according to a new report.

Vacancy rates in these buildings crept higher as rents slipped in the final quarter of last year, said the report compiled by Savills Singapore.

The firm attributes these trends to weakening sentiment in the job market as the economy slows. One important sector that accounts for a large part of office space, the financial services and banking sector, has been hit by the global slowdown.

BACKGROUND STORY

In the last three months of 2011, the vacancy rate among grade A offices in the Central Business District rose to 6.9 per cent, after consistently hovering below the 5 per cent mark for the previous five consecutive quarters.

Leasing activity in the grade A office sector has become more subdued, said the report. It pointed to pockets of space still available in newly completed projects and a slower take-up rate for projects that will be ready within the next two years.