Morgan Stanley is keeping its Grade A office rental forecast unchanged at $12 psf per month for this year (Picture: Albert Chua/The Edge Singapore)
According to a February research report by Morgan Stanley, Singapore Grade A office rents are expected to remain stable in 2025, even as the office market sees healthy take-up among new developments.
IOI Central Boulevard Towers, a Grade A office development on Central Boulevard in the CBD, is nearing full occupancy. Last month, The Edge Singapore reported that the newly completed development with 1.24 million sq ft of office space is around 75% committed.
Among the tenants at IOI Central Boulevard Towers is Morgan Stanley, the anchor tenant of the 48-storey West Tower. Amazon will occupy the entire 16-storey East Tower.
Earlier this month, Keppel South Central, a 33-storey commercial tower in Tanjong Pagar, attained its temporary occupation permit. In a Feb 10 statement, Keppel announced nearly 50% of the office and retail space at the development was committed or being actively negotiated.
An anchor tenant has also been secured for the building, which is said to be Manulife, Morgan Stanley’s report adds.
Despite the resilient take-up, Morgan Stanley expects office market rents to remain stable in 2025. The firm is keeping its Grade A office rental forecast unchanged at $12 psf per month for this year, similar to the year before.
The firm cites a few reasons for its outlook: market rents tracked by CBRE stayed stable last year even as IOI Central Boulevard Towers has been steadily leased up. In addition, anchor tenant rents, on a psf basis, tend to be lower compared to other leases within the same building. “So the new lease at Keppel South Central is unlikely to put much upward pressure on market rents,” the report reads.
Morgan Stanley adds that much of the anchor tenant take-up at new Grade A office buildings appears to be driven by occupiers moving from older CBD buildings. This flight to quality could underpin higher vacancies in the secondary market that could lead to erosion of rental growth as landlords lower rents to fill such spaces, the report elaborates.
In any case, while office market rents are anticipated to remain stable, Morgan Stanley expects rent reversions — referring to changes in rents upon the signing of a fresh lease — to stay in the positive single-digit range this year.
Read also: Prime CBD vacancy at 9.1% in 4Q2024; flight to quality office space to persist in 2025