SINGAPORE - Rents of retail space in the central region of Singapore increased by 2.3 per cent in the third quarter, after falling 1.5 per cent in the previous quarter, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday (Oct 25).

URA's price index of retail space in the central region was up 1.1 per cent in Q3, versus the 0.4 per cent increase in Q2.

As at the end of Q3, there was a total supply of 288,000 square metres (sq m) gross floor area (GFA) of retail space from projects in the pipeline, down from 320,000 sq m GFAin the previous quarter.

The amount of occupied retail space increased by 29,000 sq m (nett) in Q3, compared with the increase of 74,000 sq m (nett) in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the stock of retail space increased by 16,000 sq m (nett) in Q3, vis-a-vis an increase of 18,000 sq m (nett) in the previous quarter.

As a result, the island-wide vacancy rate of retail space tightened to 7.5 per cent as at the end of the third quarter from 7.7 per cent as at the end of the previous quarter.