Singapore Quarterly Office Rent Growth Quickens to 1.3%, Boosted by IOI Central Boulevard

Grade A office rents in Singapore’s central business district rose 1.3 percent in the third quarter compared with the previous three months, marking their strongest growth since the first quarter of 2024, according to JLL.

Gross effective rents in the central business district averaged S$11.83 ($9.14) per square foot per month in the July-September period, up from S$11.68 in the second quarter and S$11.50 a year earlier, the consultancy said in a release. Rental growth quickened from 0.6 percent in each of the first two quarters of 2025.

The acceleration was mainly due to the addition of IOI Central Boulevard Towers to the rental basket after a one-year seasoning period, according to JLL. Excluding the Marina Bay complex developed by Malaysia’s IOI Properties, office rents in the central business district rose less than 1 percent for a sixth straight quarter.

“With IOI Central Boulevard Towers almost full, we are currently observing genuine leasing activity at Keppel South Central and Shaw Tower, which have recently completed or will complete next year,” said Andrew Tangye, head of office leasing and advisory for JLL Singapore. “Large corporate occupiers are already expressing early interest in projects scheduled for completion in 2027 and beyond, anticipating the supply constraints expected over the next five years.”

Vacancy Rate Dips

JLL expects rental growth to remain modest for the rest of the year, with full-year growth set to approach 3 percent after rents rose 2.5 percent in the first three quarters of 2025. Rents are forecast to pick up pace in 2026, supported by a tightening supply pipeline.

In its own third-quarter update, Cushman & Wakefield reported that Grade A vacancy in the central business district fell to 4.7 percent from 5.2 percent in the second quarter. Tenants took up 197,000 square feet (18,302 square metres) more than they gave back during the third quarter, improving on net absorption of 185,000 square feet in the previous quarter, the consultancy said.

Orchard Road recorded the lowest office vacancy among submarkets in the central business district during the third quarter at 1.6 percent and Shenton Way/Tanjong Pagar the highest at 10.1 percent, said Cushman & Wakefield. Vacancy stood at 5.1 percent in Marina Bay and 3.9 percent in Raffles Place.

The top leasing transactions tracked by Cushman during the quarter involved relocations of two US firms to IOI Central Boulevard Towers, with drugmaker Merck taking up 67,000 square feet and trading firm Jane Street renting 45,000 square feet.

CapitaSpring Leads Deals

Singapore’s top office investment deal in the third quarter saw SGX-listed CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust buy the 55 percent stake it did not already own in the non-residential components of the CapitaSpring tower in Raffles Place from CapitaLand Development and Mitsubishi Estate for S$1.05 billion ($810 million).

The acquisition came after CICT, CapitaLand Development and Mitsubishi Estate sold the residential element of CapitaSpring in the second quarter to asset management titan BlackRock and Malaysia’s YTL for S$280 million.

In the third quarter’s other notable office buy, Keppel Ltd picked up the office component of the Jem mixed-use complex in Jurong East from Lendlease Global Commercial REIT for S$462 million ($358.5 million).