Singapore saw prime office rent increase 0.1 percent during the third quarter of 2017 – a first since late 2014 – even as vacancy rate continued to climb above 15 percent due to the huge supply influx over the last two quarters, revealed Knight Frank. In Q3 2017, the consultancy’s Asia-Pacific Prime Office Rental Index rose 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter and 0.8 percent year-on-year.“The increase in the index was the result of rising rents in 11 of the markets over the quarter, with rental declines experienced in six of the 20 markets tracked,” it said.Bangkok emerged as the strongest performing office market, with rents rising 4.4 percent in Q3 2017 or faster than its 3.9 percent annual growth. Knight Frank expects the upward trend to continue for the next 24 months.New Delhi posted the second highest increase in rent at 2.1 percent, followed by Melbourne (2.0 percent). Manila and Sydney were tied in fourth place with rental growth of 1.6 percent, while Bengaluru (1.4 percent) snapped the fifth place.Looking ahead, the consultancy expects rents in 16 of the 20 cities tracked to either remain flat or increase, an improvement from 15 in its previous forecast.“Amidst growing market confidence and the impressive recovery of Asia’s export markets so far in 2017, leasing momentum remains broadly robust across Asia-Pacific prime office markets,” said Nicholas Holt, Knight Frank research head for Asia Pacific.Source: CommercialGuru, 4 Dec 2017