S’pore falls to 26th spot

The Singapore office property market was one of the most severely hit by the lingering global financial crisis in the first half of the year.

THANKS to a sharp fall in rents, Singapore has fallen right off the ranking of the world’s top 20 most expensive office locations to 26th spot at end June – from the 6th position half a year ago.

According to a global office report released on Tuesday by Colliers International, Singapore has slipped while Hong Kong continues to hold the Number One spot, ahead of major cities like London, Moscow, Tokyo.

The Singapore office property market was one of the most severely hit by the lingering global financial crisis in the first half of the year, the report said.

It registered the second biggest drop of 42.3 per cent in Grade A office rents to US$55.53 psf per annum.

Riga, the capital of the Republic of Latvia, ranked first with a 49.6 per cent in monthly Grade A office rents in the first half of the year, while New Delhi came in third with a 38.6 per cent fall.

Source : Straits Times – 22 Sep 2009