Rents end year-long fall
Most retail property watchers bullish about next year as economy improves
By Esther Teo
Leasing activity has increased as retailers gain more confidence along with the economic recovery. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
IN KEEPING with the festive decorations lighting up the prime Orchard retail belt, landlords on the famous strip have just received news bound to brighten the gloomy mood cast by the downturn.
After four straight quarters of decline, rents for first-storey Orchard Road and Scotts Road retail space inched up 1 per cent to $39.70 per sq ft (psf), a month after falling 7.3 per cent since the third quarter of last year.
Rents in suburban areas seem to be stabilising as well, buoyed by the upswing in the economy, property reports suggest.
The report, from DTZ Research, also said prime first-storey gross rents in suburban areas rose 1.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $33.50 psf per month.
However, rents in fringe city areas such as Great World City and Bugis Junction continued to fall. These malls miss out on local residents, who patronise suburban malls, and the tourist crowd that heads to Orchard, said DTZ South-east Asia research head Chua Chor Hoon.
She added that leasing activity has increased as retailers gain more confidence along with the economic recovery: 'There is strong demand for prime first-storey space, evident from the little availability and speed at which they are taken up, despite the amount of new space that has come up along Orchard Road.'
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