Industrial rents, prices extend decline in 3rd quarter

Rents and prices of industrial space continued to fall in the third quarter of this year, as shown in the latest data from industrial land and infrastructure agency JTC Corporation.

Rents of industrial space declined by 0.9 per cent quarter on quarter and 1.6 per cent year on year.

Prices slipped 2.2 per cent quarter on quarter and 3.9 per cent year on year.

The occupancy rate, however, rose by 0.2 percentage point on a quarter-on-quarter basis and 0.3 percentage point on a year-on-year basis to 89.6 per cent.

The rise was driven by an increase in demand for storage amid a delay in new completions.

In the third quarter, owing to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the construction sector, only 24,000 sq m of new industrial space was completed, the lowest quarterly completion on record and a sharp drop from the average quarterly completion of around 270,000 sq m in the past three years.

As at the end of the third quarter, there were 50 million sq m of industrial space.

Completion of 700,000 sq m of new industrial space has been delayed until the next two years.

"We can expect further delays in completion for some industrial building projects, as project owners and contractors adjust to meet (the regulator's) safe restart requirements," JTC said in its report released yesterday.

THE BUSINESS TIMES

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 23, 2020, with the headline Industrial rents, prices extend decline in 3rd quarter. Subscribe