Prices and rents of industrial space continued to fall in tandem with occupancy rates, according to JTC’s quarterly industrial statistics.

Industrial prices and rents in 2Q2016 fell 2.3% and 1.7% q-o-q respectively. On a y-o-y basis, prices and rents decreased 6.5% and 6.1% respectively. Occupancy rate decreased 0.7 percentage points from 90.1% in 1Q2016 to 89.4% in 2Q2016.

“Manufacturing sector remains in the doldrums, which led a few firms to downsize their footprint,” says Cushman & Wakefield's research director Christine Li. For example, mainboard-listed oilfield services firm Swiber just announced to wind up the company today.

In 2H2016, there is an estimated 17.2 million sq ft of industrial space to come on-stream. An additional 21.5 million sq ft of industrial space including 5.3 million sq ft of multiple-user factory space is expected to be completed in 2017. The figure is higher than the average annual supply and demand of around 19.4 million sq ft and 12.9 million sq ft respectively in the past three years.

“Anemic global demand recovery in manufacturing is expected to continue to exert downward pressure on industrial rents and occupancies,” adds Li.

As at end-2Q2016, there were about 1,700 units in uncompleted strata-titled developments that remain available for sale.