THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to the world economy and different industries in various ways. The real estate market is no exception. However, the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, saw the increase in adoption of remote work as most employees welcome work-from-home policies. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) has helped to facilitate the transition to working from home and ensure continuity of economic activities despite the lockdown. Therefore, remote work has enabled most individuals to continue to earn a regular income to supplement their household income despite the new work-from-home setup. Therefore, with the success from remote work, there has been an increasing need to examine the pandemic implications on the immediate nature of work in the future. Singapore, being a leading financial hub in Asia, has been significantly impacted by the pandemic. Studies found that hybrid work is now preferred by many employees across ASEAN markets, with 71% of employees in Singapore being supportive of hybrid working. In addition, 49% of employed residents in Singapore adopted remote working in 2020 due to COVID-19. Therefore, the increase in remote work has resulted in workers abandoning physical offices as they work from home. This has caused many offices to become empty, resulting in major implications for office space globally. In view of the rise in adoption of flexible remote work arrangements by Singapore companies during the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper aims to explore the implications of COVID-19 on Singapore's real estate market, particularly in the commercial sector.