The latest URA data reaffirms our Neutral sector view. Office rents rose an average 9.8% yoy in 2014, although annual net absorption level of 775,000 sq ft was slightly below our expectation. The robust uptick in rents was the result of the landlords' strong pricing power, particularly in the CBD area, from the lack of meaningful new supply. Given the large incoming stock in 2016, we think that rental momentum will stutter in 2H15, as landlords become more active in offering inventory. At the current 0.85-1.1x NAV for office landlords, we believe that most of the upward rental trajectory has already been priced in.
Our top picks for the REITs sector are still MINT and FCOT, while for the developer space, we continue to like UOL, Capitaland and FCL.
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