Industrial space rent and prices remained relatively stable in the first quarter of the year compared with the previous three months, according to data released yesterday.

The price index was down 0.1 per cent, unchanged from a year earlier, while the rental index was flat on a quarter-to-quarter basis but down 0.2 per cent from the previous year.

Occupancy in the overall industrial property market was flat in the first quarter but up 0.3 percentage points year on year to 89.3 per cent.

There were about 150 units in uncompleted developments available for sale as at March 31, totalling about 69,000 sq m of space.

A further 1.2 million sq m is estimated to come on stream in the remaining months of the year, of which 80 per cent will be single-user factory space.

In comparison, the average annual supply of industrial space over the past three years was around 1.4 million sq m, with demand of around 1.1 million sq m.

"The supply coming on stream will continue to support the expansion plans of industrialists," said industrial land and infrastructure agency JTC Corporation yesterday.

It also noted that the number of caveats lodged for industrial properties shows that transaction volumes in the first quarter rose 7 per cent from the previous three months, and were up 41 per cent from a year earlier.