SUPPLY of properties in the country increased across the board in the first quarter of this year, the Finance Ministry’s Valuation and Property Services Department said.
In its property stock report released yesterday, the department said the total inventory of residential units rose 1.4% to 3,508,649 units in the first quarter.
However, the incoming supply fell 1.5% to 609,612 units but the planned supply in the country rose marginally by 0.8% to 612,678 units from the fourth quarter of 2004.
The department said the supply and demand of the existing inventory of purpose-built offices in the first quarter improved compared with that in the final quarter of last year.
Existing supply increased by 3.2% to 13,918,112 sq m and the average occupancy rate improved to 82.7% from 82.1%, it said.
On the supply and demand of the existing inventory of shopping complexes, the department said the situation improved in the first quarter of this year versus last year’s last quarter, with the existing inventory expanding 1.5% to 7,216,838 sq m and the average occupancy rate improving to 80.3% from 79.6%.
Total inventory of shop units rose 0.7% to 293,036 units in the first quarter, the department said, adding that the incoming supply, however, fell marginally by 0.5% to 38,763 units although the planned supply in the country rose 10.4% to 41,434 units from the preceding quarter.
According to the department, the national average occupancy rate of three-star to five-star hotels declined to 59.4% for the first quarter of this year from 60.1% in the earlier quarter.
It attributed this to the marginal increase of 0.3% in tourist arrivals to 4,043,549 from 4,033,115 over the same period.
The department said from a sample size of 39 service apartment centres located in nine states, the average occupancy rate in the first quarter stood at 44.8% compared with 50.6% in the fourth of quarter in 2004
Source : The Star 12/8/2005 |
