The commercial office theme was oversupplied by approximately 4.7 mn SQFT, average rental yields were 9.2% and occupancy of 83.2%, 4.8% lower than the 88.0% recorded in 2016. We have a negative outlook for investment in commercial office. On performance, average occupancy rates declined by 7.8% points from 91.0% to 83.2% in 2017 with rental yields declining by 0.1% points from 9.3% in 2016 to 9.2% in 2017. We expect market performance to soften further with rental yields coming in at an average 9.0% constrained by the oversupply, slowdown in growth of financial services and SME sectors and the low credit supply inhibiting both development and offtake finance.
