While leasing and investment activity in Singapore’s shophouse market continued to recalibrate in late 2025, Q4 indicators pointed to a broad-based slowdown across both occupier and capital segments, with 775 rental contracts signed, a 5.5% quarter-on-quarter decline from 820 in Q3 and the weakest quarterly leasing tally since Q3 2020 (770), alongside a 4.1% contraction in rental contract value to $8.25 million from $8.6 million. This came even as total investment sales across Singapore hit $34.12 billion in 2025, up 27% year-on-year.
On an annual basis, 2025 leasing volume totalled 3,237 contracts, down from 3,566 in 2024, while yearly rental value moderated to $34.9 million versus the prior year’s $40.5 million peak, with Q2’s $8.89 million showing the earlier high-water mark.
Median monthly rents softened to $6.50 per sq ft in Q4, a 1.4% quarter-on-quarter decline for a second consecutive quarter, although they remained 0.8% higher year-on-year. This put Q4 2025 median rents about 4.8% below peak levels last seen in Q2 2024.
The market’s dispersion persisted across micro-locations, as District 7, covering Middle Road and Golden Mile, recorded an 11.9% quarterly rent rise, whereas District 2, including Anson and Tanjong Pagar, saw a 12.6% fall. Earlier in 2025, rents had been more volatile, with District 14 posting a 28.9% jump in Q2, District 1 rising 9.1%, and District 15 declining 9.5%, underscoring tenant sensitivity to footfall and positioning.
Investment activity also eased, with 22 shophouses transacted in Q4 for $158.3 million, a 27.6% quarter-on-quarter decline in value and a 12.2% drop year-on-year, amid reported price mismatches between buyers and sellers. The slowdown extended a trend that had seen shophouse sales reach a 26-year low in Q1 2025, with only 67 landed shophouses changing ownership in 2024, the lowest since 1998.
Even so, H2 recorded 36 landed shophouse deals worth $281.2 million, a slight improvement on H1’s 34 transactions valued at $235 million, and 86.1% of H2 purchases involved freehold or near-freehold tenure, reflecting continued preference for long-dated assets despite lower turnover.
Operational headwinds in retail and F&B, marked by intense competition and shifting consumer spend, were reinforced by 2,431 F&B closures in the first 10 months of 2025. Demand remained comparatively firmer in prime precincts such as Chinatown and Telok Ayer, while landlords in secondary corridors were expected to moderate asking rents, with continued pressure on leasing metrics anticipated into 2026. This combination of weaker absorption and cautious pricing kept market liquidity constrained.
