Chart of the Day: Suburban retail occupancy rates down to 88.8% in Q2

Retailers in the region saw a lack of sales as people avoided malls.

This chart from EDMUND TIE revealed that the occupancy rates of retail properties in the fringe/suburban areas (FSA) declined by 2.1 ppt QoQ to 88.8% in Q2.

At the same time, occupancy in the Orchard/Scotts area (OSR) contracted by 1.2 ppt to 90.8%, whilst occupancy in the other city areas (OCA) trended downwards by 1.9 ppt to 88.3%.

The report explained that retailers in FSA were affected greatly due to the lack of sales as people avoided going to malls. At the same time, retailers in the OSR suffered from lack of tourists, whilst those in the OCA saw lower sales as people worked from home.

Based on URA statistics, islandwide net absorption declined further to -798,000 sq ft in Q2 2020 from -561,000 sq ft in Q1. The food & beverage sector was one of the more badly affected sectors due to the preventive measures implemented to contain the pandemic.