Chart of the Day: Property investor sentiment plummets as rental yields slip

Over 6 out of 10 surveyors expect rents to fall further.

Investors' appetite for Singapore commercial properties has taken a hit in Q1, revealed a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The survey showed that investor enquiries fell for the third consecutive quarter with demand from foreign buyers decreasing across all sectors.

Meanwhile, 30% of respondents reported a rise in supply of properties for sale, with a particularly sharp increase in the office sector. Some 47% of respondents also believed that credit conditions had deteriorated on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

The study also revealed that 65% of surveyors expect rents to fall over the next twelve months, while tenant demand fell at its fastest pace since the financial crisis in 2009. Respondents expect rental values to fall by 5.8% at the headline level, with all sectors forecast to see a substantial decline.