Office rents in the CBD dipped 0.9%

Building owners woo tenants through incentives.

According to Knight Frank, overall office rents in the Central Business District dropped 0.9% q-o-q. Raffles Place office Grade B rents increased by 1.5% q-o-q while Grade A office rents saw a drop in rents of 0.9% q-o-q.

It noted that over at the Shenton Way/Tanjong Pagar and Robinson Road precint, overall rents remained flat. Apart from old units in some buildings that have been vacant for several months, the ongoing construction of buildings such as Oxley Tower and V on Shenton has decreased the appeal of neighbouring buildings. As such, building owners are willing to negotiate new leases with incentives such as more rent free periods. 

Office rents in the Suntec and Marina Centre remained flat for the third consecutive quarter. Over at the Beach Road/Middle Road cluster, rents saw a q-o-q decrease of 1.8%. For suburban office spaces, overall rents decreased by a marginal 0.5% q-o-q due to the increase in available space at Tampines and Alexandra locations. 

Louise Toovey of Knight Frank said "the office leasing sector is likely to bottom out in late 2013 as leasing activity picks up. Rental increases are likely to be marginal."