Chart of the Day: Prime factory and warehouse rents peaking?

The average monthly gross rents of prime factories and warehouses rose 0.5% to 0.8%.

Colliers International said:

In face of greater economic uncertainty, industrialists in Singapore are less bullish about their business prospects and have kept inventories lean while cutting back on expansion and capital investments. This directly impinged on occupier demand for industrial space.

As a result, prime factory and warehouse rents appeared to be peaking after almost two years of steady growth. The average monthly gross rents of prime factories and warehouses rose 0.5% to 0.8% QoQ in 1Q 2012, slower than the preceding quarter’s rise of up to 2.0% QoQ. This comes on top of the whopping 16.7% to 20.1% growth in 2011.

Hence, as of end-March 2012, prime factory space was commanding average monthly gross rents of $2.39 per sq ft for ground floor space and $2.08 per sq ft for upper floor space, while the corresponding rates for warehouses were $2.47 per sq ft and $2.04 per sq ft, respectively.