Singapore Office rentals close to 1990 historic high

Singapore Office rentals close to 1990 historic high
Rentals of prime office space in Singapore in the second quarter, have surpassed the record levels during the last property boom in 1996, and are edging closer to the all-time historic highs reached in 1990.
Property consultancy CB Richard Ellis says rentals in the core central business district area of Raffles Place, Marina Bay and Marina Centre surged 75 per cent year-on-year,to $10.50 per square foot a month in the second quarter.
This is beyond the 1996 level of $9.90, and rapidly catching up with the historic peak of $11.50 in 1990.
The latest rental rate in the second quarter is also 22 per cent higher than in the first quarter of this year.
Going ahead, CB Richard Ellis expects office rentals to continue going up, but it says tenants resistance will temper the pace of increase.
The consultancy also saw demand for prime office space from a wider range of businesses --
Firms in the banking and financial sectors used to dominate office space in the core CBD area.
But increasingly, CB Richard Ellis is seeing tenants from the shipping, energy, oil-trading, law and IT sectors.

If we assume of 2% inflation every year since 1996, fair value today is suppose to be $12.3... Hence $10.50 psf today is still 17% lower as compare to 1996 peak.