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THE Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) office rental index for Singapore’s central region rose 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023 over the preceding quarter.

This was a slower increase than the 4.9 per cent gain in Q3 2023.

For the whole of 2023, the office rental index climbed 13.1 per cent after expanding 11.7 per cent in 2022.

URA data released on Friday (Jan 26) also showed that the price index of office space in the central region fell 5.9 per cent in Q4 2023 from the previous quarter, contrasting with a quarter-on-quarter increase of 0.8 per cent in Q3 2023.

For the whole of 2023, the office price index eased 4.2 per cent after dipping 0.1 per cent in 2022.

Islandwide, as at the end of Q4 2023, there was a total supply of about 1,126,000 square metres (sq m) in gross floor area of office space in the pipeline, higher than the 1,077,000 sq m in the previous quarter.

The amount of occupied office space increased by 9,000 sq m in net lettable area (NLA) in Q4 2023, down from the increase of 23,000 sq m in the previous quarter.

The stock of office space expanded by 2,000 sq m NLA in Q4 2023, after shrinking by 42,000 sq m in the previous quarter.

As a result, the islandwide vacancy rate of office space dipped to 9.9 per cent as at the end of Q4 2023, from 10 per cent as at end of the Q3 2023.