Should you buy residential, commercial or industrial property?
Do offices, shops and factories make better investments than homes?
Growth a year from 1998 Q4 to 2026 Q2: residential 4.2%, industrial 2.7%, office 0.4%.
5 charts5 freeOpen
Market data
Offices, shops and factories behave differently from homes. These topics compare the asset classes and follow prices, rents, vacancy and supply for office, shop and industrial space.
FreeLine chart
Price index, 1998 Q4 = 100. Retail (central region) starts in 2011 and is published on the same base. URA and JTC, to 2026 Q2.
The office index peaked at 163.3 in 1996 Q3. The retail index peaked at 130.7 in 2014 Q4. Industrial is not one clean series: JTC changed its method in 2014 Q4 and there is no figure for 2001 Q4.
Source: URA and JTC via SingStat. Residential: URA private residential price index (M212261), rebased. Industrial: JTC (M212181), rebased.. Data to 2026 Q2.
Licence: green class (Singapore Open Data Licence).
| Period | Residential | Office | Industrial | Retail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-Q4 | 100 | 100 | 100 | |
| 1999-Q1 | 105 | 92 | 96 | |
| 1999-Q2 | 118 | 92 | 92 | |
| 1999-Q3 | 127 | 91 | 87 | |
| 1999-Q4 | 134 | 99 | 95 | |
| 2000-Q1 | 138 | 105 | 96 | |
| 2000-Q2 | 140 | 117 | 106 | |
| 2000-Q3 | 137 | 119 | 107 | |
| 2000-Q4 | 133 | 126 | 111 | |
| 2001-Q1 | 127 | 115 | 112 | |
| 2001-Q2 | 126 | 111 | 106 | |
| 2001-Q3 | 123 | 107 | 101 | |
| 2001-Q4 | 117 | 99 | ||
| 2002-Q1 | 116 | 94 | 92 | |
| 2002-Q2 | 115 | 90 | 89 | |
| 2002-Q3 | 116 | 87 | 89 | |
| 2002-Q4 | 115 | 82 | 86 | |
| 2003-Q1 | 114 | 80 | 83 | |
| 2003-Q2 | 113 | 77 | 81 | |
| 2003-Q3 | 113 | 76 | 79 | |
| 2003-Q4 | 113 | 74 | 78 | |
| 2004-Q1 | 112 | 72 | 78 | |
| 2004-Q2 | 112 | 72 | 78 | |
| 2004-Q3 | 113 | 73 | 79 | |
| 2004-Q4 | 114 | 73 | 79 | |
| 2005-Q1 | 115 | 74 | 79 | |
| 2005-Q2 | 115 | 74 | 80 | |
| 2005-Q3 | 117 | 75 | 81 | |
| 2005-Q4 | 118 | 76 | 81 | |
| 2006-Q1 | 120 | 77 | 81 | |
| 2006-Q2 | 122 | 80 | 82 | |
| 2006-Q3 | 125 | 83 | 83 | |
| 2006-Q4 | 130 | 89 | 86 | |
| 2007-Q1 | 137 | 93 | 89 | |
| 2007-Q2 | 148 | 101 | 97 | |
| 2007-Q3 | 160 | 110 | 100 | |
| 2007-Q4 | 171 | 118 | 106 | |
| 2008-Q1 | 177 | 120 | 109 | |
| 2008-Q2 | 177 | 121 | 114 | |
| 2008-Q3 | 173 | 116 | 115 | |
| 2008-Q4 | 163 | 110 | 107 | |
| 2009-Q1 | 140 | 97 | 97 | |
| 2009-Q2 | 133 | 93 | 92 | |
| 2009-Q3 | 154 | 91 | 90 | |
| 2009-Q4 | 166 | 92 | 92 | |
| 2010-Q1 | 175 | 94 | 93 | |
| 2010-Q2 | 184 | 98 | 99 | |
| 2010-Q3 | 190 | 104 | 107 | |
| 2010-Q4 | 195 | 109 | 114 | |
| 2011-Q1 | 199 | 115 | 123 | 117 |
| 2011-Q2 | 203 | 119 | 130 | 117 |
| 2011-Q3 | 206 | 123 | 139 | 121 |
| 2011-Q4 | 206 | 125 | 145 | 121 |
| 2012-Q1 | 206 | 125 | 155 | 122 |
| 2012-Q2 | 207 | 123 | 168 | 123 |
| 2012-Q3 | 208 | 126 | 183 | 124 |
| 2012-Q4 | 212 | 126 | 182 | 124 |
| 2013-Q1 | 213 | 129 | 190 | 126 |
| 2013-Q2 | 215 | 131 | 189 | 128 |
| 2013-Q3 | 216 | 132 | 195 | 129 |
| 2013-Q4 | 214 | 133 | 188 | 130 |
| 2014-Q1 | 212 | 134 | 195 | 130 |
| 2014-Q2 | 209 | 134 | 197 | 129 |
| 2014-Q3 | 208 | 136 | 195 | 129 |
| 2014-Q4 | 206 | 139 | 195 | 131 |
| 2015-Q1 | 203 | 139 | 196 | 131 |
| 2015-Q2 | 202 | 139 | 195 | 130 |
| 2015-Q3 | 199 | 139 | 194 | 130 |
| 2015-Q4 | 198 | 139 | 191 | 130 |
| 2016-Q1 | 197 | 138 | 187 | 127 |
| 2016-Q2 | 196 | 136 | 182 | 123 |
| 2016-Q3 | 193 | 136 | 179 | 122 |
| 2016-Q4 | 192 | 135 | 174 | 123 |
| 2017-Q1 | 191 | 129 | 170 | 118 |
| 2017-Q2 | 191 | 128 | 167 | 114 |
| 2017-Q3 | 192 | 128 | 166 | 113 |
| 2017-Q4 | 194 | 131 | 164 | 112 |
| 2018-Q1 | 202 | 133 | 164 | 112 |
| 2018-Q2 | 208 | 136 | 164 | 111 |
| 2018-Q3 | 209 | 136 | 164 | 111 |
| 2018-Q4 | 209 | 139 | 164 | 113 |
| 2019-Q1 | 208 | 143 | 164 | 110 |
| 2019-Q2 | 211 | 144 | 164 | 111 |
| 2019-Q3 | 214 | 139 | 164 | 112 |
| 2019-Q4 | 215 | 138 | 163 | 114 |
| 2020-Q1 | 213 | 133 | 163 | 111 |
| 2020-Q2 | 213 | 127 | 161 | 109 |
| 2020-Q3 | 215 | 127 | 157 | 111 |
| 2020-Q4 | 220 | 123 | 159 | 109 |
| 2021-Q1 | 227 | 120 | 160 | 105 |
| 2021-Q2 | 229 | 121 | 163 | 102 |
| 2021-Q3 | 231 | 118 | 164 | 102 |
| 2021-Q4 | 243 | 116 | 166 | 104 |
| 2022-Q1 | 244 | 121 | 169 | 103 |
| 2022-Q2 | 253 | 115 | 172 | 102 |
| 2022-Q3 | 263 | 112 | 175 | 98 |
| 2022-Q4 | 264 | 116 | 178 | 96 |
| 2023-Q1 | 272 | 116 | 181 | 95 |
| 2023-Q2 | 272 | 117 | 184 | 96 |
| 2023-Q3 | 274 | 118 | 186 | 96 |
| 2023-Q4 | 282 | 111 | 187 | 97 |
| 2024-Q1 | 286 | 110 | 187 | 99 |
| 2024-Q2 | 288 | 113 | 189 | 98 |
| 2024-Q3 | 286 | 114 | 190 | 100 |
| 2024-Q4 | 293 | 113 | 194 | 98 |
| 2025-Q1 | 295 | 113 | 197 | 100 |
| 2025-Q2 | 298 | 112 | 200 | 100 |
| 2025-Q3 | 301 | 112 | 201 | 100 |
| 2025-Q4 | 303 | 111 | 204 | 101 |
| 2026-Q1 | 305 | 111 | 206 | 104 |
| 2026-Q2 | 307 | 111 | 207 | 104 |
Topics
Each topic asks one question and answers it with charts. Open one to read the key points and see every chart.
Do offices, shops and factories make better investments than homes?
Growth a year from 1998 Q4 to 2026 Q2: residential 4.2%, industrial 2.7%, office 0.4%.
5 charts5 freeOpen
How have office prices, rents, vacancy and supply moved in the Central and Fringe areas?
The Central Area is 11 planning areas and the Fringe Area is the 11 around it. Together they are the 22 areas of the Central Region.
7 charts7 freeOpen
How have shop and retail prices, rents, vacancy and supply moved?
The shop series is used to 2010 Q4 and the retail series from 2011 Q1. In 2011 to 2013 the two differ by at most 1.8 index points.
7 charts7 freeOpen
How have industrial prices, rents, vacancy and supply moved, and which types stand out?
From 2009 Q3 to 2012 Q2 the price index rose 86.5% and the rent index rose 37.6%, so rent for each dollar of price fell.
6 charts6 freeOpen
Charts
One chart from each of the first topics. The title of each chart says what it found.
Should you buy residential, commercial or industrial property?
Key figuresFree
Office: central versus fringe, vacancies, rentals and supply
Key figuresFree
Shops: central versus fringe, vacancies, rentals and supply
Key figuresFree
Industrial: prices, rentals, vacancy and supply
Key figuresFree